Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Laughter. Wine. A little black dress.

All she knows is that she's having a good time in good company. The man sitting next to her on the couch is already handsome on his own, but he's more attractive telling her about his guild. It doesn't take long for her to like him—to fall for him. She thinks she might be in love with him and never thinks about how strange it is to fall in love with a man in just a couple short hours.

But...there's nothing else that can explain it. Her heart is beating so fast and she's filled with an overwhelming desire to just melt into his embrace. She has never felt like this before. All she can think about is him and wanting to be with him. In her mind, she's praying he feels the same for her. These emotions are so intense; she can't be the only one feeling them.

Beads of wine float into the air. He beckons her to take them in her mouth. Such a sexy thing to do. For him, of course she'll do it. She would do anything he asked her to do. She wants to show him that he chose the right girl this night, that she'll be the right girl for every night, so she plays it up, mouth opening slowly and tongue seductively rolling the droplet into her mouth. He grins at her and she returns a smirk. He liked it.

More beads come and she drinks them willingly. He looks so delighted when she does. Seeing him smile, her heart is full and she is happy. But the room begins to darken and her eyes start to flutter shut. She can't fight it. She doesn't need to fight it because he tells her it's okay. There's a sense of comfort in seeing that curve of his lips as his voice soothes her to sleep. Calmed, it's the last thing she sees.

Lucy opened her eyes and rolled over onto her side with an absolute feeling of disgust. She rarely had dreams anymore; only dreadful recurring memories. This one, the reason she'd gotten into this mess, always led to a good day of self-loathing.

It was probably some ungodly hour in the morning. The girls she shared a room with were all still sleeping and the room was dark, although it was mostly like that all the time anyway. She remembered waking up in the exact same situation months ago and panicking when she couldn't find her keys. They'd been attached to a strap around her leg and had likely been stripped from her while she'd been unconscious. It'd been through pure luck only that she managed to locate them. Once, while she was serving her kidnapper in his office, she'd spotted them when he opened a drawer on his desk. Lucy had to hold herself back from launching herself straight at it. She had never felt so much rage before. He'd taken her, yes, but the idea that he had her spirits, the ones her mother had entrusted to her, and the ones that she had befriended herself, in his possession made her want to explode.

Her stomach growled as she thought of her spirits. It had been a good 18 hours since she'd last eaten. That was the way things ran around here. They kept the girls starved and fed them only enough to ensure they could function. A woman that felt strong was much more willing to fight back, and while Lucy's will to survive was still strong, her body was definitely lacking in nutrition. She had to be careful with what she did. Non-compliance was met naked humiliation amongst the crew and then minor sedation to mess with your cognition if you were still defiant after that. She had never been through either herself, but she had been forced to pour wine for the ship's master on a day where a fellow victim had been subjected to the former. Fumiko, Lucy thought. But she would never know for certain as the girl barely spoke again after that day. The punishment had broken her as it was intended to do.

Lucy closed her eyes and let herself drift off again. All she'd wanted to do was be a member of Fairy Tail. It was a dream she'd been chasing for a while. She'd wanted to be just like Mirajane, the mage she idolized the most. The woman had such a stunning face, curves in all the right places, and to top it off, she was a brilliant mage—not that the magazines had ever really featured Mirajane's magic, but Fairy Tail was known for having strong wizards. The fact that she was a member was a statement in itself. It was too bad that Lucy would never meet her. An unremarkable mage like herself had stupidly gotten stuck under a love spell and couldn't even keep enough of herself to realize it was happening.

When she next opened her eyes, there was light beaming in from the single round window in their room. Her eyelids were heavy and she let them drop close again, even as she heard the voices of the other girls around her. Waking up meant she had to face another miserable day on this boat. Things would be okay if she could stay curled up in her blankets on the floor, but she was never allowed to do that.

Still they continued to chatter. Ugh, what did they even have to talk about? One girl was drugged up, another was a snide bitch, and the third was much more pleasant than either of them. There was nothing to do, nothing to look at, and everything was completely shitty.

At the squeak of the metal door, Lucy buried her face deeper into the pillow, as if that would prevent the day from continuing on without her.

The door slammed against the wall and a familiar deep voice rang out. "Lucy."

The room was silent and she didn't move at the sound of her voice. No, she thought despondently. No, no, no, no, no.

A moment passed and she felt the only kind one in the room, Kagura, shake her by the shoulder. "Lucy," she spoke gently, trying to coax her roommate out of feigned slumber, "you've got to get up."

Why did she have to get up, though? So she could spend another day serving the asshole that trapped her in this place? She didn't want to. This wasn't fair.

"Lucy," the masculine voice repeated her name, this time more forcefully. Clutching her sheets, she knew it was time to get up.

The blonde sat up, brushing Kagura's hand aside and got to her feet. There was a touch of bleariness that remained in her eyes, but Lucy hardly thought that being called to slave away for some pig warranted being entirely awake. She would dress up in some skimpy outfit and pour him wine while he ogled her and other girls, just like always. Later she would be on cleaning duty, scrubbing floors or something similar, before heading back to this dark room she was starting to believe she would never escape.

Still, the consequences of misbehaving weren't worth it, and if Lucy were being honest, she was terrified of ending up like Fumiko. She hadn't been much of a rule breaker throughout her life until she ran away from home, so she wasn't accustomed to being punished. In fact, the prospect of being punished had always been something that scared her, but her circumstances were much worse this time around. She couldn't risk being defiant. She didn't want to get hurt. She didn't want to feel any worse than she already did. For now, surviving with the least possible difficulty was top priority.

Unfortunately, this ultimately meant obeying when she was called. Quietly, Lucy stood from her dusty white futon and trod after her handler. The other girls didn't bother looking at her. Everyone went through the exact same thing. Today was no different.

The door was shut behind her and she followed the man down the same hallway that she walked every day. White speckled floors lay throughout, her feet brushing against the smooth surface as she was led to the dressing room. The henchman waited outside and Lucy numbly let the attendant inside dress her. Elsie, a nasty woman who wore too much makeup and was puffing on a cigarette 80 percent of the time, dressed the girls on the ship in whatever skimpy outfit might please their master that day. It was evident that unlike the rest of them, Elsie was here by choice. She ate with the crew members and the man in charge barely regarded her unless there was some sort of costume he wanted his girls in that day. All that made her even worse in Lucy's eyes.

Ten minutes later, she was sent out with her hair in a decorated bun wearing a blue and gold bikini with glittering tassels hanging down from the waistband of bottom. It wasn't the least comfortable outfit she'd ever been in, but it left little to the imagination. Worst of all, she could see the brand placed upon her skin on the side of her left thigh. The lock burned into her skin always reminded her that she was trapped. Lucy could feel the walls around her. She didn't need a reminder.

Even less appealing was the way her handler was eying her. Touya had been assigned to fetch and watch her specific room of girls over the last few weeks. He had put his hands on places he shouldn't more than once. Right now his fingers were wandering suspiciously close to her bum and Lucy skillfully moved out of the way. She might not be able to physically retaliate, but she had tons of past experience with guys hitting on her. Besides that, the underlings never wanted to cause a scene; there was a strict policy on how to treat the girls, and there was a no trespass zone unless you were the boss himself.

Touya, however, was quickly taken out of the equation when they arrived at the boss's office. It was a change of scenery from her usual place serving alcohol in the lounge where the boss spent most of his time finding ways to entertain his sorry existence. That meant maybe the guy was doing something actually resembling work for a change.

Indeed, sitting at a dark wooden desk in the middle of the only carpeted room on this entire ship was the boss himself, Bora. The sharp line of his jaw was such a distinct characteristic of his that it haunted her in her dreams. Combined with the sneer that was forever ingrained in her memory as the last thing she saw before succumbing to the drugs, and you had the full image of the dark wizard Bora. He was smart, using Fairy Tail's name like that to draw in a crowd and influence girls with a spell. Lucy hadn't even realized that there was magic being used on her until she woke up the next day, thigh throbbing from the mark that would forever label her a slave.

She hated him, but she served him nonetheless. She had no other choice but to survive.

Bora looked irritated as he sat there, looking like he was in the middle of writing some sort of letter. Sighing, he scratched the X-shaped tattoo over his right eyebrow. "He wants the terms on paper. I can't believe it," the man grumbled as he looked at the two standing at the door. "Touya, get in here and open up a bottle. My pretty little mage Lucy...you know what to do."

She cringed at the nickname he'd given her, but followed after her handler in silence. Although the concept of time was not a luxury Lucy was allowed, it couldn't be later than ten in the morning judging by the light coming through the window. This man really couldn't stop himself from drinking before noon. A wine glass was shoved into her hands and she went to go stand by her captor as he continued to gripe over whatever he was writing. Touya was walked over to the dark, wooden cabinet where the wine could be seen behind the glass. The chain of work had been long established between the girls and the workers. He got the wine, she did the pouring. Once that was done, Touya went to go guard the door outside.

"I don't need this extra work. As if I'm not doing enough already, ordering around these oafs and getting new blood on the ship," Bora continued to mutter to himself. "I'd almost rather just throw them overboard once I'm done with them than deal with all this damn paperwork."

Unmoving, Lucy's eyes strained to see what was on the paper. There was a short list of girls names and it seemed to be some sort of contract he was drawing up. Then it occurred to her that he was talking about them. He was trying to get rid of a few of the girls by selling them off to the highest bidder, and if there was nobody buying, he was perfectly content to throw them off the ship to drown at sea! She felt sick. He was the one that had taken them—all of them, and now he didn't even want to take responsibility for them. He wanted to toss them away like garbage.

Suddenly, the lacrima sitting on Bora's desk sprang to life. "B-boss! You need to get over here! There's a situation!" a frantic voice yelled from the other side.

Bora growled in annoyance. "Idiot! I told you not to bother me!"

"But boss! We—" There was a loud yelp. "There's too many of them! We don't know where the hell they all came from!"

"For fuck's sake, you're all useless!" Bora cursed into the crystal. He stood up abruptly, chugging the remainder of the wine in his glass before he stomped out the door, ordering Touya to go inside and watch her. Lucy stared, alone at the desk, still holding the open bottle of wine in her hands.

"Lucky me. In here with a pretty girl with nobody watching," the guard said with a nauseating grin. Lucy winced at the sight of his crooked teeth and long black hair. He wasn't even close to the biggest goon on Bora's payroll. In fact, he was a bit short and scrawny, but he was still a male and one that could probably hurt her.

"You're not allowed to touch me," she replied, her voice shaking as she trembled in her spot. It felt like rocks had made their way into her ankles. They felt impossible to move.

"Oh?" Touya scoffed, advancing on her slowly. "And who's going to stop me?"

Since her legs were refusing to move, Lucy placed the bottle down onto the table. It was still three-quarters full and would only slow her down. Grasping the edge of the table, she moved sideways, dragging her uncooperative feet with her. This stupid piece of furniture was the only thing separating him from getting to her and she was going to use it for as long as she could.

"You're...you're going to get in trouble," Lucy again tried to dissuade him.

He was undeterred. "Ain't no trouble when nobody knows a thing." He reached the other side of the table, creeping around it as Lucy matched his pace with as much courage as she could muster. Her feet still didn't want to do what they were supposed to, but she had to keep the distance between them. "Don't you worry. I'll put you right back the way you were and nobody'll know a damn thing."

Her throat was tight and the fear had thrown her into flight mode. The sweat of her hands stained the surface of the table as she moved past. Her heart was pounding in her ears. Only once in her life had she ever thought "this can't be happening"; Lucy had never thought she would encounter a second, especially so soon after the first. She had to run. She had to get somewhere safe.

Even though she had been expecting it, when Touya chose a side and lunged at her, she hesitated just for a second. Like a child caught in a hypnotic spell, she forgot what she was supposed to do. He was coming towards her in what seemed like slow motion. Why was she just standing here...? What was she doing...?

Lucy exploded from her spot as instinct took over, but it was already too late. She screamed as she felt the tassels of her bottom jerked back and she fell to the floor. His hands were grabbing at her and Lucy flailed her legs at his face. She felt her heel hit the table as his grip tightened around her ankle.

"Let go of me!" she shrieked, desperately clawing at the ground. She felt the first tear falling down her cheek as she took hold of the side edge of the table, knuckles turning white. "Let go! Someone help me!"

Then Lucy heard laughter. He was laughing at her. Because even with the adrenaline coursing through her veins, she was still weak. Because even though she was a mage who could fight, she had frozen up in fear. Because she was calling for help when they both knew there would be none. Even if people weren't wrapped up in whatever issue was happening on the other side of the ship, Lucy was still surrounded by the demons who had turned her into a slave. If she ran and got away, it would change nothing. There was nobody here to help her. Nobody. The only person she had was herself.

Give up...or fight.

It wasn't a decision. Lucy was not going to let him lay a finger on her ever again. She would not succumb to some repulsive scumbag who thought he could have his way with her just because he wanted to. She would show him how dead wrong he was.

Looking ahead of her, the wine bottle lay nearby like a saving grace, the carpet stained red from the spillage—it must have rolled off the table and onto the floor from the impact of her foot. Without a second thought, Lucy roared and lunged forward to grab the bottle's neck. In one fluid motion, she whirled and smashed it against her assailant's head with all her momentum. Glass shattered everywhere and the laughter stopped. The hold on her ankle had loosened and Lucy scurried back on her heels and haunches until her back hit the wall. Seeing his body motionless across the floor, everything started to sink in.

He'd tried to—he'd almost... If she hadn't gotten to that bottle, he would've—

Lucy curled up into herself, crying hysterically into her hands. All of this was too much. Why was this happening to her? It wasn't fair. Maybe all of this was her punishment for running away from home. Maybe someone somewhere thought she deserved this, but she didn't. She didn't deserve the daily objectification, the sexual harassment, the imprisonment. She didn't deserve any of this. Most of all, she didn't deserve the brand laying upon her skin that would curse her for the rest of her life. Lucy wailed as she remembered how absolutely violated she'd been and how close she'd gotten to being violated all over again in an entirely different way. It wasn't fair.

She fell over onto her side, quieter sobs wracking her body. Salty tears melded into the carpet as she stared at her handiwork over by the desk. A combination of desperation and will had somehow freed her from that mess. It was the first time she had truly fought someone despite strutting around and calling herself a mage after leaving home. Glass littered his body and a small pool of blood had formed around his head where Lucy had struck him. It was almost surreal that she was the one who had done that. If it had been one of the other girls, would they have been able to do the same thing?

...Of course it wasn't fair. Of course she didn't deserve any of this, but none of that mattered. She was here and she had to face the situation she was in. There was no choice. Lucy wanted to survive. As a mage with at least some self-defence training, she had to make that happen. There was nobody here to help, she reminded herself.

Pushing herself to her feet, Lucy wiped her face on the back of her wrist. She had little hope, but she had to try anyway.

Despite her scattered thoughts, she remembered exactly where she was. Bora's office. It was a place she never thought she'd have to herself. Her legs were like jelly as she walked back over to the desk, avoiding the body on the floor by staying as far away from it as she could. Lucy pulled open the top drawer of the desk to find an absolute mess. There were abandoned sticky notes, old bottle caps, and even condoms strewn about the drawer. She frowned in disgust. She'd had enough of thinking about men and their genitals.

The second and third drawer she'd looked through turned out to be a bust, but in the fourth, she spotted the gold of Aquarius' key shining from below a couple sheets of crumpled paper. Her heart practically burst through her chest when she felt the metal of her keys in her hands again. The tears returned. She couldn't believe how long it had taken her to be reunited with her beloved spirits. Hope welled up inside of her. She could use Aquarius to bring the ship to shore from wherever they were. Freedom was just one gate opening away.

Lucy held the key forward, concentrating her magic. "Open the Gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius!"

...Nothing happened.

"No," she breathed, determined to try again. "Open the Gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius!"

Still, there was no response.

"No. No, no, no, no, no." The celestial spirit mage touched on her magic again. "Open! Open!"

She sank to the ground, knowing it was useless. Her hunger and lack of sleep had drained her of magic and the only reason she'd been able to fend off Touya was because of adrenaline. All of her gold keys required more magic than she could possibly have when she had been practically starving for months and none of her silver keys would be useful for getting her off this ship. She might be able to float through the seas in Horologium, but his contract wouldn't allow her to keep him here for days, which wouldn't matter when she didn't even have enough magic to keep his gate open. Lucy wanted to be that strong girl in the book that saved herself, but she couldn't. There just wasn't a way.

There was only one thing she was sure of: she could never let Bora get his filthy hands on her keys ever again. If she couldn't save herself, she could at least save her spirits.

Lucy got down to work, knowing she had to buy herself as much time as she could. She grabbed the chair at the desk and dragged it over to the door, shoving it under the knob to jam it. Eying the glass on the floor, an idea came to her. She hurried over to the cabinet at the back to get another wine bottle and uncorked it with as much effort as she could muster. Sliding open the room's window, Lucy took a moment to breathe in the outside, something she hadn't smelled in what felt like a lifetime. She hated the saltiness of sea water, but in this moment, the taste in the air was the most magnificent thing she'd ever experienced. The wind on her face was a reminder of exactly what she was fighting for.

Not one for wasting time, Lucy poured the wine out the window until the bottle was empty. She took a piece of parchment from inside one of the drawers she had searched earlier and began penning an S.O.S letter. She'd only written about three sentences when she heard pounding on the door. Faster, Lucy, she told herself. You have to work faster.

She ignored the sound of people trying to break in and continued writing as coherently as she could under pressure. Quickly, she rolled up the parchment and stuffed it into the bottle. Her keys came next. Lucy took a second to hold her keys close to her chest. She had no idea where they would end up, but anywhere was better than here.

"I'm sorry I ever let him take all of you," she whispered to her spirits, "and I'm sorry that I have to do this. I hope whoever finds you all will cherish each of you as much as I do."

Aquarius, Cancer, Taurus, Crux, Horologium, Lyra, and...Nikora. She couldn't bring herself to let go of all of them; it was like letting go of a part of who she was. Pulling Nikora's key off the ring, she slid the rest of her keys into the bottle. All of them were her friends. She could only hope they would forgive her.

It took all of her strength to put a cork back in the bottle, but she did it. It felt like a piece of heart had been torn from her as she threw the bottle out the window and into the ocean. Considering all that had happened in the last half hour, it didn't take much for the tears to start flowing again. This was probably the last time she would see those keys ever again, but she knew it was for the best. Bora would never lay his hands on them again.

With one last look at the bottle, she closed the window and fell to the ground sobbing. Her keys. The only part of her mother she had left and she'd thrown them into the ocean. She was a terrible celestial spirit mage and a terrible daughter. She was the biggest idiot for getting herself into this situation in the first place. Nikora, the only spirit she knew she'd have enough magic to summon, was clutched tightly in her hand.

Lucy pressed the key into her bun, making it look like one of the hair ornaments Elsie had decorated her with. Somehow, they would make it out of this. She would survive.

Staring at the door, she waited for them to come.

In the harbour of Hargeon, a young man and his companion sat with fishing rods in hand. The male with pink hair was sulking even as he cast his line in the water.

"What a bust," the man complained loudly. "I knew we shouldn't have believed Krov! Last time he sent us to Malba City and nothing was there! I'm gonna punch him so hard the next time I see him!"

"Aye, but we don't know where else to look for Igneel," his companion, a talking blue cat, replied cheerfully. He was operating a rod of his own. "At least there are lots of fish here!"

The bucket next to them was indeed filling up quite quickly. If anything, they certainly wouldn't go hungry tonight. Still, he would much rather have found what he was looking for than just scaly things he could eat. The disappointment was palpable.

Just then, he spotted something glint in the water. It looked much too well-kept just to be garbage of some sort. Curiosity piqued, he hopped into the water without hesitation to fish it out himself. A minute later, he was back on the dock next to his cat friend, examining the object. It was a bottle, still sealed, but the cork was a little crooked and there wasn't any liquid inside. Shaking off his wet hands, the young man uncorked the bottle and let a damp piece of parchment slide into his hands.

"What is it?" the cat asked, coming to stand beside him.

"It's a letter," the pink-haired man replied as he examined the unraveled piece of paper, "from a girl named Lucy."

Chapter Text

My name is Lucy Heartfilia. I am 17 years old. It's the sixth month of the year X784. I don't know when someone will find this, but if years haven't passed, I'm asking for your help.

A couple months ago, I was kidnapped in Hargeon by a man posing as Fairy Tail's Salamander. His name is Bora and he uses magic to seduce women and lure them onto his ship. We sail all day and stop every 2 weeks for supplies. I don't know on which day. I'm not sure how many of us there are. Maybe 15, maybe more. He has many more men.

If it's already too late, then please just care for my keys. They belong to someone who loves them as much as I do. If it's not, we can't save ourselves. Please help us. If you can find a way, please help us.

Please.

It was a beautiful day in Magnolia. The sun was shining down on the city as pedestrians buzzed about with smiles on their faces. The gondoliers in the canal tipped their hats at a young lady they had just transferred across town. She spared them a few extra jewels and walked off, blending into the crowds as she headed towards the shopping center. A young man brushed against her shoulder, muttering an apology as he emerged from the masses of people. Finally feeling as though he had a little more freedom, he took off in a sprint. His much shorter and furrier companion flew behind him in close pursuit, wings and tail on full display.

Maybe ten or fifteen minutes later, he rushed towards a large two-story building tucked away near Magnolia's coast. Laughter and loud voices could be heard from within, but the noises went in one ear and out the other for him. Although he hadn't taken a mission off the board, he had one clutched in his hand as he pushed opened the building's doors. Nobody batted an eye when he entered, his guildmates continuing about their business, completely unaware that he was here. Normally this wouldn't bother him, but needed their attention and so he gathered a deep breath to project his voice.

"Yukino!"

Natsu Dragneel of Magnolia's sole guild, Fairy Tail, felt much more satisfied when the glances of several of his guild mates landed on him. He tossed his rucksack on the ground and glared at nobody in particular. "Well? Where is she?"

"She's still in lessons with Mira, you moron," an irritated voice came from his left side. The dragon slayer turned to see Gray Fullbuster standing nearby with his hands jammed into his pant pockets. The man didn't have a shirt on, leaving the guild mark on his right pec exposed. Normally, the condescending expression his face would have Natsu planting a fist in it, but he didn't have time for that right now.

"Hey Natsu!" a buck-toothed man shouted from his right. He was sitting at one of the tables with Niggy, looking smug. "Did you find anything good while you were gone?"

Frowning, Natsu, slipped the piece of paper he was holding into his shirt and began stomping over. "Aye! We found lots of fish!" he heard Happy reply. Krov and Niggy were having a good laugh in the meantime. That promptly ended when a fuming Natsu grabbed Krov and chucked him across the room into another table which splintered into broken boards.

"YOU LIAR! THERE WAS NOTHING ABOUT IGNEEL IN HARGEON!"

Just then, Gray grasped one of his shoulders. He was pretty much naked now, barring his underwear. "Bastard! I was talking to you!"

Natsu looked at him daringly, eyes blazing. "Talk to me when you're wearing pants, ice freak."

"What'd you call me, dumbass?"

"An ice freak, you frozen jerkoff."

Gray threw the first punch which Natsu dodged with ease before he went prancing off around the room. He guessed he could spare a moment to put this all to rest. He was feeling pretty smug looking at the other man's face until he felt his feet slip from beneath him, his chin hitting the floor that was now slick with ice quite painfully. Natsu shifted onto a knee with his hands on the floor and melted the ice on the ground. He wasn't the one with the smug look on his face anymore.

Natsu rose to his feet as fire surrounded his hands. His opponent stood metres away, the side of his fist pressed against an open palm.

"Come get me," the dragon slayer taunted.

He was anticipating some sort of attack, but was taken off guard when a sword planted itself on the ground between them. He stared at the weapon for a second and exchanged looks with Gray who shrugged. A minor disruption. Back to fighting. They ran at each other without a second thought.

"I thought you two would be more mature by now."

Natsu was abruptly ripped out of his sprint and yelped as his scarf choked him a little bit. Gray was being held by an earlobe about an arm's length away. Fired up, he was about to fight back against the person holding him when he realized exactly who it was.

Erza Scarlet, or better known by the public as the Titania, was holding them both apart and not looking very happy to be doing it. She was in her favourite Heart Kreuz armour, glowering at both of them.

"Ridiculous. You can't even behave yourselves for two minutes when you're in the same room!" she scolded them like an older sister. "Now apologize to each other and quit fighting."

They glared at each other, but both of them knew better than to disobey the orders of their senior. "Sorry," they said simultaneously, equally as insincere.

Erza eyed them cautiously, probably aware of their ingenuity, but didn't seem to care so long as they weren't disrupting everyone else. Satisfied, she nodded and relaxed her grip. As soon as she turned around, Natsu sent a spark at Gray's hair, singeing a few of the tips. Gray was quick to retaliate by flicking a piece of ice at Natsu's forehead. They swiped at each other childishly when a massive chasm suddenly split open the floor between them.

Eyes wide, the boys found the Titania looming over them. "What did I just say?"

Unfortunately, this scuffle had started a chain reaction amongst the other guild members. The vibration of Erza's attack had knocked the sand mage Max into Elfman's back. Of course, Elfman did not take well to being hit from behind for reasons of the manly variety. "An assault from behind is a cowardly tactic!" he announced belligerently, then punched Max into Cana. The impact resulted in Cana spilling her bottle of wine and igniting the embodiment of the term "raging alcoholic." Cana flew at Elfman with frightening fervor. Their tussle landed right in the middle of a game of poker game between Jet, Droy, and four other guys. The whole foyer began to unravel into chaos and Erza was suddenly ignoring Natsu and Gray in an effort to break up some of the fights that had just broken out.

Obviously the rivals of fire and ice took this opportunity to get at each other yet again. Natsu ducked under the ice hammer Gray swung at him, blowing fire. The ice mage threw up a wall that dissolved in a sizzle of steam. A second later, frozen arrows were flying at him. Natsu sidestepped one, feeling the breeze of the arrow as it whizzed by his face. It was the same game they played since they were kids, neither of them ever winning. Fighting made them come alive; it was their sign of brotherhood. It was like breathing. It was just what their guild did. Nobody really seemed to care about anything anymore besides fists and magic and using fists and magic to beat each other up. It was how their guild showed love. Well, probably anyway.

Natsu was in the middle of readying another technique when he found himself crushed under a massive force. He was forced onto his stomach before he even knew what was happening, everything but his head completely immobilized.

"Silence! All of you!"

The booming voice echoing throughout the guild stopped everyone in their tracks. Erza looked rather ashamed of what she had been taking part in while the rest of them looked mildly terrified. On the other hand, Natsu just felt irked that he couldn't move at the moment. Being squashed beneath his master's gargantuan foot wasn't exactly something he found enjoyable.

"Children will be treated like children! Now, clean this place up this instant!" Makarov demanded, his voice shaking the floor. He glared at everyone for a few seconds before shrinking down to his normal, unintimidating size and grinning at his underlings. "If I let you all destroy this place with magic, it would take weeks to rebuild!"

They all responded by getting down to work, evidently forgetting what all the ruckus was about in the first place. Erza bowed her head to their master apologetically.

"It was irresponsible of me to get caught up in such juvenile antics," she said as she glanced at the floor in embarrassment.

"There's nothing wrong with a fight every now and then. It was just getting a little out of hand," he replied dismissively. "Besides, I'm sure this one—" Makarov stepped a little harder on the still-facedown Natsu who frowned in annoyance. "—was right in the middle of it again, isn't that right?"

Now that he was no longer trying to punch his rival, the dragon slayer remembered what he'd been trying to do in the first place when he walked into the guild hall. "I got important stuff that needs to be taken care of, old man." He rolled out from under his Makarov's foot and stood up. "You should read it. This...this isn't something I'm gonna be able to handle alone," Natsu stated somberly as he pulled out the message to hand to his master.

The piece of parchment was probably more worn out now since their widespread brawl, but it would still be legible. Even if it wasn't, he practically had it memorized by now. He couldn't forget the girl out there that needed his help. The frantic penmanship that it was scrawled in reminded him of how serious this whole thing was. Not to mention the fact that someone was out there sullying the good name of his guild. Whoever this despicable man was had to be punished.

Makarov raised his head when he was done reading, his face entirely sober. "It's the sixth month of X784 right now. Where did you find this?"

Erza had a puzzled expression on her face, not knowing what was written in the letter. Clearly she wanted to know what was going on, but Natsu disregarded her as Happy strolled up alongside him carrying the rucksack he'd disposed of earlier.

"The harbour at Hargeon. And look," he replied, pausing to rummage through his bag before pulling out the item he was looking for, "this is what it came in."

The elderly mage stared at the bottle that was now in Natsu's hand, eyes caught on the keys that sat at the bottom. Sighing, he folded up the letter neatly and turned to Erza. "Get Levy and Gray. We must go to the library."

Still rather confused about what was happening, the ex-quipper nodded and went to fetch the requested fellow members. Makarov didn't say anything and simply headed for the library with Natsu and Happy following close behind.

When it came to difficult situations, children were often presumed to be the ones most perplexed by them for the plain fact that they didn't understand what was going on. Yukino, however, was no such child. She had always been intelligent, but ever since she'd been taken in by their guild, her study sessions with Mirajane had only made her more intuitive. To Natsu, that was pretty indicative as to why the young girl immediately took the bottle from his hands maybe three seconds after he walked into the library.

"You have celestial keys," she said pointedly, blinking. "Why does Natsu-sama have celestial keys?"

Mira smiled at them from the table in the middle of the room, obviously unsure of when Yukino had escaped from her seat. The girl was generally so quiet and well-behaved that Natsu could see why Mira had been thrown for a loop.

Makarov patted her gently on the head despite being smaller than her. "Go back to your seat, Yukino. All will be explained as soon as the other arrive."

"Are we sure this is real?"

It was the question Gray (now fully clothed) posed as soon as the letter was finished being read to the entire room as they sat around the table in the library. Of everyone, he was the most unmoved by its contents. Natsu's immediate reaction was to use his fists to convince his stripper ass, but he restrained himself knowing that probably wasn't going to go over well with certain other people nearby. Frankly, he didn't care what Gray thought and was more curious about why this guy was even here.

"It seems pretty serious if master thinks it is," Levy responded from across from him, her blue hair held back by a white hair band.

"Yeah, but Natsu's a moron," the ice mage retorted. "Maybe someone's playing a prank on him and he's too stupid to notice."

"No, this is very real."

They all turned to look at Yukino who had risen from her seat again. She didn't bother walking around the table to get what she was looking for and simply got on top of it to reach for the bottle that was sitting near Natsu. Carefully, she slid back into her seat, never taking her eyes off the keys that sat within the glass. She turned it over, shaking it a bit until the keys fell with a clang onto the wood.

"These are celestial spirit keys, just like mine," she explained to Gray as she set down the bottle to examine the keys instead. "Gray-sama, don't you understand? We would never part from our spirits unless we had to. They aren't just our closest allies; they are our friends."

He crossed his arms and looked away without an answer.

"Yes, Yukino, and that is exactly why I've called you all here," Makarov said. His glance over all of them around the table was stern but powerful. "Do you understand how easily this message could have been lost at sea for months, or even decades? The chances that Natsu would have found this message when he did are miniscule, and yet he did. This is a cry for help from those who cannot help themselves. As the few who can use magic in this world, are we so selfish that we can't help those who are in need? Hargeon is our neighbour and they don't have any guilds of their own. I will not sit idly by while innocent civilians are out there suffering at the hands of another mage."

"You know that's not what I meant..." Gray mumbled grumpily.

"Nevertheless, I wanted to make a speech that sounded cool!" their master announced cheerfully, lightening the mood. "Besides that, we can't overlook the fact that someone is using Natsu's name to tarnish the name of our guild. As far as I'm concerned, we're already involved."

The dragon slayer had been feeling good after watching Gray be admonished by their master but mentally paused at that statement. "Wait, my name? You mean...?"

Gray stared at him as if he were stupid and Erza just sighed.

"Oh yes. All the magazines refer to you as Fairy Tail's Salamander." It was Mira who answered in her sympathetic tone.

"Aye! I knew that too!" Happy chirped.

Natsu looked at his best friend in betrayal for a second before shaking it off. "Whatever. So we're gonna find her, right? Levy can track her?" He couldn't wait to get his hands on this bastard who was stealing girls and making them his slaves. Lucy...whoever she was... She had been through enough.

The first time he'd read the letter, he had wondered himself if it was a hoax. Finding a letter in bottle within the same month it'd been sent out just seemed too convenient—not to mention how unlikely it was to even have someone write this message and put it in a bottle in the first place. But then her saw the scratch of her words, the way the leftover wine stained the parchment, and thought of the messy way the cork had been shoved back into the bottle. All of that screamed for help as much as she did.

How must she be feeling right now? Alone in an unfamiliar place with hostile criminals who had taken her away for their own devices. How forsaken did she feel, being unable to help herself and knowing there probably wasn't any help coming?

"It's not that easy," Levy said apologetically. "Even if I could get a magic signature off her keys, we have no idea where to start looking. There's no way I could search the entire ocean and there's no way of knowing when they dock or where."

"Calm down, Natsu. I know you're eager to help this girl, but we need to have a plan first." Makarov looked to Gray. "I understand your skepticism, but the reason I asked you here is because you had contact with the dark mage Bora before."

"You think it's that Bora?" the ice mage asked like he was having an epiphany. "I...yeah, I thwarted one of his jewel thefts a few months back. He'd enchanted the staff with a love spell, but he was out of there by the time I arrived. His lackeys took the fall for it. We never saw each other."

Erza shook her head. "So we're at a dead end then."

"No, we're not," Yukino said firmly. Her hands were cupped together around the keys as she held them out to the group. "The spirits, they might know something. Some of these keys are incredibly rare. They must be invaluable to Lucy-sama."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's do it!" Natsu insisted as he stood up, pumping his fist in the air.

Without waiting for her master's approval, Yukino clutched the keys in her hands and headed straight for the door. Natsu jumped up and followed enthusiastically. One step closer... They were about to get one step closer to saving Lucy.

Natsu ran after Yukino who had headed over to the nearby river. He vaguely heard footsteps behind him, indicating that the others had come along, but he was too occupied with seeing what the spirits might uncover to bother looking back. Though her expression remained neutral, his younger guildmate was definitely excited about calling a spirit she had never called before as she held out a shiny golden key towards the rushing water.

"Please let me do the talking, Natsu-sama," she instructed him as she closed her eyes. "O great goddess of water, answer my call, I beseech you! Open the Gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius!"

He had seen her open the gate of the spirits quite a few times, but it never got old with the way some of them loved to embellish their entrance. This spirit clearly had a flair for the dramatic as she burst out of the water, her long hair flipping over her shoulder with both her hands around a pot overhead. She glanced at them with piercing blue eyes as the jewel on her headpiece gleamed in the sun. Slowly, she lower the pot to her side, gathering water into it.

"Who are you and why do you have my key?" she asked defensively, as if she were ready to attack at a moment's notice.

He was tempted to demand answers of his own, but let Yukino do as she'd requested. The younger girl stepped forward confidently.

"I am the celestial spirit mage Yukino. I am the one who summoned you."

Aquarius glanced around warily. "And where is Lucy?"

And that was the question, wasn't it? Natsu bit his tongue in an effort to keep his mouth shut. Just standing here watching was driving him crazy. He was always going to be restless if he couldn't do anything to help.

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Yukino replied, unafraid.

"That brat...she abandoned all of us, didn't she?" Aquarius asked bitterly.

He couldn't take it anymore. He wouldn't just stand here and listen while Lucy's own spirits were insulting her. He didn't know a ton about celestial spirits, but he knew that the bonds between them were as precious as family. Yukino had said that herself. "She was taken, and she still tried to save all of you," he growled. "She's your friend, isn't she? So why are you so quick to blame her?"

"Taken?" Aquarius blinked, looking subdued. "You mean...these past few months we spent stuffed in a drawer somewhere was because..."

"I found a bottle with a letter inside. You were all in it too," Natsu supplied stubbornly, still not quite placated.

From what he had seen of the water spirit so far, she suddenly became uncharacteristically quiet. He silently hoped that she was feeling a little guilty about being so cavalier about the whereabouts of her key bearer. However, her face grew determined and compliant only a few seconds later.

"Then that stupid girl is in danger," the spirit stated, expression worried despite her rough words. "I can't tell you where she is because I don't know myself, but if you're going to help her, I'll tell you what I can."

She emptied the water from the pot distractedly. "It was probably about a week and a half ago in your terms...I felt her trying to open my gate."

"You mean she didn't?" Natsu asked, eyes narrowing.

"No, I mean I think she couldn't," Aquarius replied thoughtfully. "She didn't have enough magic, but she tried twice. I felt it."

His jaw clenched, knowing that was probably when Lucy had written that letter. Still, it didn't give him anything else to go on. If even Levy couldn't track where she was, they really had no way of finding this girl.

"There's one other thing I noticed," she added, drawing Natsu's attention back. She gestured towards the ring of keys that Yukino was holding. "That ring is missing a key. Just before the dead period when we weren't being called at all, Lucy bought another key."

"So...she kept one?" He was scratching his head, trying to understand how this was supposed to help him.

Yukino stepped forward, placing a comforting hand on his arm. "Do you know which one?"

"Canis minor, if I felt it correctly. They haven't made a contract yet, but I'm sure that key was with the rest of us," Aquarius noted before her face soured. "Not sure why she would keep that useless little thing and throw the rest of us into the ocean."

"I...understand," the young celestial spirit mage stated a little breathlessly. "I...I understand!"

Natsu glanced her quizzically, mostly because none of this information meant anything to him. Yukino seemed to know this right away and brandished a silver key off her own small ring of keys.

"This is Nikora, the Canis Minor. I have the same key. He's doesn't require a lot of magic to call and he's not very strong, but he'll always do his best," she explained to both Natsu and the spirit in front of her. "If she didn't have enough magic to summon you, maybe she has enough for Nikora."

Aquarius appeared satiated by this rationalization. Meanwhile, Natsu was still confused.

"We may not know where she is, but my Nikora spirit can find hers in the Spirit Realm!" Yukino rambled happily. "Once she calls her own spirit, we'll have a way to contact her!"

Oh, well, that was something.

"That's all I can tell you," Aquarius said. The spirit closed her eyes and let out a long breath before sending Natsu a piercing stare. "You. Make sure you find Lucy."

He met her eyes with determination welling up within him. "I will."

Aquarius nodded in approval before she dove into the water, dismissing herself.

What she'd given them was a lot to think about; however, before he had any time to process this, a shout cut into his thoughts. He turned around to see everyone who had been in the library standing by. He hadn't realized they'd been observing the entire interaction until now as Levy alerted them to her presence. She was partially bent over with her hands on her knees, breathing heavily. It seemed like she was the only one who had arrived just now.

"Master!" she called between breaths, bringing all eyes on her. "I found something!"

Makarov stood with his hands behind his back patiently, waiting for her to regain some oxygen. "Whenever you're ready."

She placed her hands on her hips to hold herself upright. "I did some research on Bora like you asked and I managed to contact someone from Titan Nose, the guild he was excommunicated from. It turns out Bora has a girlfriend."

"A girlfriend?" Gray piped up. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, his girlfriend goes to the same café every morning. We have a connection," Levy replied pointedly.

Natsu's mind was working quickly. Suddenly they had both a way to contact Lucy and a way to get to her captor. They were a step closer to getting her off that ship. He clenched a fist. He was getting all fired up.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go!" he insisted with a determined grin. He was already running off towards the guild when Erza grabbed his scarf and jerked him back for the second time that day.

"Not so fast," she said in exasperation. "You can't just barge into there. We need a plan."

He glared at her, feeling distinctly like the "plan" was quite obvious.

"Precisely. We can't spook the girl," Makarov stated, peering over at Natsu with a disapproving look. "Levy, what do we know about her?"

The solid script mage had taken out a notepad to refer to. "She's a mage of Phantom Lord. They call her the Rain Woman. And according to my contact, she's pretty quiet and shy."

"It would be best to send someone in incognito. Give her a friend, perhaps?" Mirajane suggested.

"Or a business partner for her boyfriend," Erza added. "We need to give her a reason to contact him."

Natsu struggled within his senior's grip. "Why are we even talking about this? I'll go!" he whined defiantly. He was getting really annoyed with all this talk and lack of action.

"Not a chance," she retorted sternly, her hold on him remaining solid. "Stay put. You have the subtlety of a house on fire."

Entirely annoyed, the dragon slayer watched as his master turn to the half-naked guy standing nearby. His temper flared within him, knowing exactly where this was going. He didn't care what they said. As if he was just going to sit around and do nothing. Lucy needed his help and he was going to do everything he could to find her. He couldn't just leave her with that feeling of despair and emptiness, like a hole in your heart that would never again be filled.

He knew, because once upon a time, Natsu had been alone too; he would make sure she knew she wasn't.

"Gray," Makarov started, "are you up for a mission?"

Gray's eyes landed on Natsu, locking them into a long stare. Sighing, the ice mage lazily glanced back at their master. "Guess I don't have much of a choice."

Chapter Text

"But why are you leaving?" she asked as she clutched the parasol in her hands tightly.

The rain fell heavily around them, her heart falling to pieces with it. He was the only one who had ever stayed with her despite the rain. After all, he never let her forget it. The reminder of how much he hated the rain was constant. He whined and complained, but he stayed. That was the important part.

Her lover shrugged underneath his own umbrella. "I made a business. I gotta make it run somehow."

She looked down at her boots. The sadness was overwhelming and the sky began to cry harder. She barely saw him these days; how long would they be apart if he was leaving on a ship? Logically, however, she understood. He had left his guild only a couple of months ago and needed some sort of income. His import and export business would need frequent supervision and she knew that him staying with the shipments was important, especially when he only had one boat.

She tried her hardest not to make the next question sound so selfish. "When will Juvia see you again?"

"I'll call you," he replied, his tone nonchalant. They both knew it wasn't really an answer. The man grimaced at the puddles that were forming around them. "We should meet inside from now on. Your rain doesn't go indoors, does it?"

She shook her head and watched him walk off a few minutes later without so much as a kiss. Again, she was alone in the rain. Perhaps it was just a cycle that would never be broken.

Juvia Lockser's day was like clockwork: she would wake up, wait by her home's lacrima for an hour, go to her favourite café for a couple hours, do a short mission to keep her income flowing, check in at the guild headquarters to find a mission for the following day, then go home again to wait by her lacrima. There was nothing fulfilling about it, really, but it was her version of living. Every day, all she yearned for was a call from her beloved which were few and far between. Since his departure, Bora had called her a grand total of one time and that had been two months ago. Still, he had carved his signature deep in her heart because he had stayed with her, and that was something she couldn't let go of so easily.

She sat at the café drinking her tea out on the terrace, drenching the rest of the tables in water despite the sunny day. Fortunately, the café's owner didn't seem to mind the water and always left her to her own devices. She was especially thankful for that considering the mission she'd had yesterday. It had been a little stressful for her, mostly because it was had been a teenage boy requesting a letter delivery that had turned out to be a breakup note to his girlfriend. Juvia had almost refused to do it, but shoved aside her own broken heart for the girl and did what her contract had stated. Naturally, when the girl read the note and started crying, the rain intensified.

Now here she was, gloomily sitting outside in her own rain as she reflected upon her own relationship. Not for the first time, she wondered if Bora loved her. Officially, they had been together for a year, which sounded good but certainly changed when it came to the reality of things.

They only ever met on Bora's terms, which she had conceded to after she had once suggested they go out for dinner and received an "All you ever do is nag me, woman!" in response. They only ever kissed when he felt like it too, which was limited to somewhere between sometimes and never. She always paid for their dates and he seemed to like her most when she was cooking for him. None of that really sounded like what a man in love would be like, but she didn't know. All her previous boyfriends had left her when all this rain became too much, and he…he hadn't.

And so she loved him.

Was thinking about love supposed to make you feel happy? She was pretty sure it was, but it was never the feeling she got—maybe because she was always trying so desperately to hang on to it. The fight for love was never an easy one, but she wasn't about to just give up. It was just...was it this hard for everyone?

A droplet of water leaked through a hole in the umbrella that covered her table and landed in her cup. The liquid rippled within. She sighed. This was her favourite seat, but she would likely have to switch to one that wouldn't drench her beverage. How sad that the option to just stop the rain simply wasn't available to her. She controlled the water, but to a certain degree, it controlled her too.

Juvia peeked up at the next table to her right. That one had yet another leaky umbrella and would ruin her tea more than this one. The other table to her left...well, there was a man sitting there already. That struck her as quite odd, considering nobody ever sat outside while she was around for the simple fact that nobody wanted to sit in the rain.

He was very handsome; the angle of his jaw was a particularly attractive feature of his face. He had dark eyes like her own and seemed to be fiddling with the collar of his shirt, like it wasn't comfortable to be wearing. The book in his hands that he seemed to be concentrating on so intently was becoming wavy along its edges from the moisture in the air. The words on the front of the book read "The Key to Unlocking Yourself." What a strange book to be reading out in the rain all by his lonesome...

Suddenly his eyes shifted from the contents of his literature and landed on her. Flustered, Juvia quickly looked away to focus on her tea. She people-watched all the time, but she was always careful not to get caught staring. It was one of her hobbies, but she didn't want to be perceived as creepy or nosy. She was just...curious, about people and the way they acted.

But how could she regret being caught in the act when she wouldn't have seen what she had otherwise? What eyes this man possessed, so much depth and intensity. Juvia wondered what hardships he'd gone through in his life to make his eyes look like that.

She was, however, a little embarrassed to continue sitting there when he'd seen what she was doing. Juvia didn't even know if he was still looking at her. It would probably be best if she went to the guild to prepare for her mission a little bit early today. Besides, with this umbrella dripping rainwater into her tea, she wasn't sure how much she wanted to drink it anymore. Juvia made up her mind quickly and stood up with her own parasol and headed over to the Phantom Lord headquarters, taking the rain with her.

Juvia did not sit in her usual spot the next day. The man sitting at the only table that didn't have a leaky umbrella wasn't there this time, so she settled herself there and waited for the waitress. She glanced out past the fences of the terrace at the thick foliage nearby and watched the rain bounce off the leaves of the trees. It was something she saw all the time; she couldn't remember what sunshine looked like.

"Hey, is it okay if I sit here?"

The voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she turned to see the man with the dark eyes standing beside her. She was a little flustered by his sudden presence, fiddling with her fingers. "O-oh, c-certainly."

"Thanks," he said shortly and sat down without another word. A second later, he was whipping out his book again, paying her absolutely no mind.

Juvia was not used to having people want to be around her, if this could even count as that. For some reason, he hadn't just gone directly inside—and he was reading! She couldn't fathom how he wanted to sit outside in the rain while ruining the paper he was reading! His presence and odd behaviour were enough to overwhelm her.

It was then that the waitress walked out of the store to take their orders. Juvia, unwilling to break the best part of her routine (unless her love called), ordered her tea. The man sitting with her absently ordered a black coffee and returned to reading.

Her fingers tapped her thighs restlessly, unsure of what to do with herself. This was ridiculous! Yesterday was the first time she'd seen this man, yet somehow he made her feel uneasy enough that she couldn't focus on anything other than him. His enigmatic presence was throwing her whole day off!

Juvia was relieved when her tea arrived. It gave her something else to look at and think about…even if there wasn't really anything to think about when it came to tea. This café always made it just right which was one of the reasons she always came back. Still, she found herself inadvertently peeking up from her glass more often than not. He was being nothing less than completely respectful. Unable to stop staring, she was the rude one.

"Are you okay?"

She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she jumped in her seat at the sound of his voice. A little tea spilled out of her cup and she scrambled to keep it from dripping on her dress.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you," the man apologized, visibly amused by her muddled state.

The Rain Woman quickly drew the droplets of spilled tea away from her skin with her magic and discarded them on the floor. "Juvia is—I'm fine."

"Alright then," he replied, then turned back to his book.

Rather determined not to make a fool of herself, she resolved not to pay any attention to this man for the remainder of her time at the café. Besides, she had a mission to do in a little while, a boring but easy one. Delivering a package across town was anything but glorified job, but it needed to be done. Then she could go home and wait for Bora to call, if he even did...

"Do you know what 'conscientious' means?"

His voice didn't startle her this time, luckily, because the teacup was still in her hand. Juvia stared at him quite openly, genuinely confused as to why he was asking her about vocabulary.

"'Conscientious'…?" she repeated slowly.

"Yeah. I don't read a lot, so all these long words are kind of frustrating," the man said to her casually. "I mean, you'd think a friend would recommend something easier first."

She nodded in agreement, shyly looking away from him despite it now being appropriate for her to actually stare.

"So? Do you know what it means?"

Oh, right. Juvia had forgotten that he'd asked a question in the first place. Her mind raced to remember what the word was. Conscious? No, conscientious. "Oh, um, i-it means to be aware and—and considerate of something."

He looked up in thought at her answer. "Hm, guess it makes sense in that context. Thanks."

He didn't say anything else after that and Juvia was left with more questions about this man than ever. She tried hard not get drawn into the mystery of him. She had more important things to think about than men and their odd behaviour. After all, half the time she didn't even understand her own boyfriend.

They spent the rest of their time together in silence. Seconds ticked by and glasses emptied, one man reading and one woman pondering. Eventually, Juvia had to leave for her delivery. She sighed as she stood to leave, glad that the encounter was over. Maybe tomorrow things would go back to normal.

When things did not go back to normal the next day, Juvia only got more frustrated. As she approached the café, she realized that the man with the book was already sitting at the table. Briefly, she thought about just turning around and walking away from the whole thing, but her morning had been terrible. She needed her tea. This enigmatic man would not deter today.

Juvia marched up to him with her parasol and exhaled loudly. "May I sit here?"

He looked up away from his book. "Oh, you and me again, huh? Suit yourself."

She sat down with a huff and closed her umbrella. The waitress waved at her knowingly through the window. She was thankful she didn't have to place an order; having a conversation was the last thing she wanted right now.

"Are you okay?"

Oh no. He was talking to her again. Why did he have to talk to her again?

"Juvia is—!" She stopped herself, knowing how strangely she came off as when she didn't try to talk like everyone else. Taking a second to compose herself, she took a deep breath in and out. "I'm fine."

He didn't seem to care about her slip in speech. "So your name's Juvia then."

Her face exploded in heat. Oh no. She'd accidentally told him her name and only paused because of the way she'd been talking! He wasn't supposed to know her name! They weren't supposed to know anything else about each other so she could just go on with her routine without any disturbance.

"If it helps, my name is Gray," he told her casually. He wasn't paying attention to his book anymore as the paperback was face down on the table. Instead he took a sip of his black coffee. "You seem upset."

It was an observation, not a question. She didn't know how to reply to that because he wasn't really asking her.

"To be honest, I've been waiting for a chance to talk to you."

Juvia hadn't thought she could get more embarrassed, but she was. With certainty, she was. Was this guy hitting on her now?

"J-Juvia has a-a boyfriend," she told him anxiously.

Gray stared at her blankly for a second, then chuckled. "Yeah, I'm aware of that. I'm actually trying to get in touch with him."

She wasn't sure how to feel about that information. On one hand, it seemed so obvious; men rarely approached her unless they wanted something and this time was no different. On the other hand, there was a disappointment that she couldn't shake. Somehow, an expectation had developed even though they'd barely interacted.

"Then Gray-san is out of luck. Juvia does not contact him; he contacts Juvia," she said. Her voice did not waver this time. If there was one thing she disliked more than being treated poorly, it was being used.

He shrugged. "That's alright. I don't mind hanging out with you."

Wha—what a line! Aside from being momentarily angered by his motives, Juvia felt weakened by his smooth-talking. The delivery was so nonchalant, so suave...! But she couldn't give in! This was simply a tactic to reach her beloved.

"P-please leave Juvia alone!" she demanded even as the heat on her face continued to rise.

He glanced at her for a moment, his eyes betraying no emotion at all. "Sorry. Not gonna happen." Gray waved his hand absently. "I'm just a guy having coffee at a café."

Her jaw dropped at his audacity. How could he just sit there like none of that conversation had just happened? How could he just pretend she didn't know what she did? Juvia was unbearably frustrated. He couldn't just-just harass her like this!

"Juvia—" she spluttered, "Juvia does not like you!"

He shrugged. "Not my job to make you like me. I'm here for business, and you wanna help your boyfriend out, don't you?"

Juvia clenched her fists, unsure of what to do. It went without saying that she wanted to support her boyfriend in whatever way she could, but she didn't know this man and she didn't trust him. Most of all, she found it incredibly insulting that he thought he could just barge in on her routine and bother her until he got what he wanted.

She took a deep breath to try and calm herself. This was not about her. This was about Bora and doing what she could to help him. Fine, this "Gray" character could stay here, but she was not going to like it.

"It's impolite to bother a lady," she declared as the waitress came outside to set down Juvia's tea.

"Maybe," he agreed, "but you were already upset when you got here. Isn't it polite to ask a distressed damsel if she's okay?"

Juvia stared at him, completely bewildered. His expression hadn't shifted in the slightest and he had somehow managed to befuddle her once again. "I-I suppose..."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere and your tea just came, so we can go on pretending like the other one isn't there or you can tell me what's eating at you," Gray said as he turned a page in his book.

She held her tea in one hand, weighing her options. Ultimately, the decision was a simple one. Regardless of how she was feeling about her boyfriend right now, she still loved him and was going to support him.

"The man with whom you wish to speak, Bora-sama... Juvia spoke with him this morning," she replied, unable to keep the bitterness entirely out of her voice. "Bora-sama does not call very often, so it is likely that Gray-san will have to wait some time before he contacts Juvia again."

His eyes were on her again, his elbow resting on the table as he held his chin. "That sounds like a real fact, but not that one that's bothering you."

Juvia placed her tea back on its serving plate with a clink! Why was it that he seemed to take notice of every little thing? "Bora-sama is at sea most of the time for his business. It's been four months since he left and he refuses to come see Juvia even once."

Gray raised an eyebrow. "And you've been together for how long?"

She immediately disliked his dubious tone. "One year," she answered, her own voice frosty.

"Is that including the four months he's been gone?"

She shot him a withering stare. This man was relentless!

"Okay...including," he said, not missing a beat. "So you're telling me that his boyfriend of yours up and left you after six months to concentrate on his business, never gave you his lacrima contact, doesn't call you very often, and won't visit you after four months. Why are you with this guy again?"

"Juvia loves him!" she snapped, only seconds later realizing that she didn't have to justify her feelings to this man that she didn't even know.

But it was too late. Juvia had chosen to engage and she suddenly knew that they were going to have a full on discussion about her relationship. There was no stopping it, because for the first time, she saw something in his eyes that didn't resemble indifference.

"Really?" he drawled. "You love a guy who can barely spare a second to call you?"

"Bora-sama's business is very demanding," she said.

"It's so demanding that he can't see you after a quarter of the year's passed," Gray retorted.

"It's a new business! He can't leave it!"

"Not even for a day? While he's in town? Doing a trade?" He shook his head and Juvia did not miss him rolling his eyes as he looked out into the rain. "I don't believe it."

"Why do you care?" she asked heatedly.

He looked at her with his dark eyes ablaze. "Because he shouldn't be treating you like that. Nobody should be treated like that. You deserve better."

Juvia stood with her tea and chugged the rest of it down, using all of her self-control not to break the cup as she set it back down. "Then it is fortunate that Bora-sama is the best," she said before grabbing her parasol and heading off into the rain.

Of course Bora-sama was the best! That Gray could even make such despicable declarations about him was infuriating. So what if he called her annoying? So what if he acted like she was a nuisance all the time? So what if he didn't call her or visit her very much? He was the only person who had ever stayed with her even though she made it rain. When person after person let her down, he was the only one who hadn't straight out walked away. Bora...was definitely the best.

Because if he wasn't the best, then what was he?

The feeling of unease that Gray had instilled within her did not recede when she finally arrived at the Phantom Lord headquarters that day. Despite her vehement defence of her boyfriend, his words had managed to creep into the recesses of her mind. Juvia was ashamed to find that her mind was filled with doubts about both her relationship and her boyfriend. She was the worst. Loyalty was her only redeeming quality and she couldn't even maintain it.

Seeing Aria gushing with tears as soon as she walked into the foyer did not do anything to improve her mood. It seemed to be a reaction to whatever point that Sol was making to him and Totomaru. The latter didn't seem to mind much, simply smirking in Sol's direction with what was likely an arrogant reply. Even though she was part of their team, she didn't feel like finding out what was going on between them. Juvia maintained good relationships with all the members of the Element 4, but she didn't feel a particular kinship with any of them specifically.

The guild hall wasn't quiet by any means, but it was orderly and always filled with a very focused atmosphere. Their Guild Master, Jose, was always encouraging them to look their best, do their best, and strive to become more powerful because Phantom Lord was the best guild in Fiore. Of course, his unspoken reasoning for motivating them was that he hated the guild Fairy Tail with a passion and wanted to crush them in every aspect. It was the worst kept secret in the guild. Regardless, it did leave many of their members with a very serious attitude.

Juvia cared for none of that. She liked Phantom Lord because she fit in here. Nobody begrudged her for the rain that followed her around and everyone treated her with respect. Plus, missions were a great way to distract herself when she was having problems in her relationship.

Self-created problems in her relationship, anyway.

She sauntered over to the mission board to select the following day's task when a hand was placed on her shoulder. She turned to see Gajeel Redfox standing beside her with his usual stoic expression as he nudged his head in the direction of their Master's office.

"Master wants to see us for a mission," he told her, and Juvia immediately wondered if this was an actual serious assignment. Gajeel was Jose's pet, whether he knew it or not. His loyalty to the guild was boundless, and besides their Master, he was the strongest mage in the guild. Jose only needed those two reasons to make Gajeel his favourite.

Juvia followed her friend to their Master's office where the rest of the Element 4 was already standing. Jose regarded them with a nod as he sat back in his chair, fingers interlaced below his chin. His facial hair was as severe as always—maybe looking a little worse with the smirk he had upon his face.

"I need all five of you to be in top shape for this mission," he said, stroking his mustache. "I was contacted by someone with immense wealth and power this morning and he has a job for us. If we are successful, Phantom Lord will undoubtedly be regarded as the best guild in Fiore."

Juvia straightened in her stance a bit. She still cared very little about her Master's ultimate ambition, but she did appreciate how much he cared for all of them and took pride in being part of a great guild like theirs. Looking around at her comrades, they looked just as ready as she was to make this mission a success.

"I presume our client is either a major politician or a company head then, Master?" Sol asked.

"Precisely," Jose answered, his grin widening. "Our client is Jude Heartfilia of Heartfilia Konzern, and he's asked us to find his daughter."

Chapter Text

Lying was an easy thing for him to do. He was calm under pressure where others panicked and he was quick-witted enough to counter anything that was asked of him. His word selection was always intentional and he never gave up more of the truth than strictly necessary. Talented was what he was. His leaders saw that in him. None of that meant he enjoyed being told to lie.

When it was lower than dirt scumbags he needed to work, it was never a problem. People like that just had it coming—stepping on others to get what you want was liable to get you stabbed in the back at some point—but to involve someone nobody was even sure had the information they needed rubbed him the wrong way. Gray didn't trust Natsu's intelligence. He trusted that stupid letter even less.

"How are you going to play this?" Erza asked as they stood by the guild entrance with Levy. The two women were tasked with preparing him before he headed out to the caf é for the first time.

He didn't like the words Erza was using. "To play" meant that there was a game going on, that there was somebody who was going to win it, but toying with someone's feelings was not a game to him. He didn't sign up to hurt anyone, even if he had an angle.

"As close to the truth as possible," he answered irritably as he shoved his hands into his pockets. The more he thought about this mission, the more stifling his clothes seemed to become. "Do I really have to do this?"

"If there's a chance this brings us closer to a kidnapping victim? Yes," Levy replied dryly. "This girl is our best connection to Bora. If she knows anything about how to contact him or where to find him, you need to get that information."

Erza seemed to sense his continued hesitation and placed a hand on his shoulder "I know you're skeptical about this whole mission, but you trust me, don't you? And Yukino?" Gray nodded. "Good. Then that's all you need to remember when you get there."

"Oh!" Levy exclaimed, her index finger popping up. She rummaged through her side bag for a second before pulling out a book. "And take this! You're going to get bored if you're just sitting at a caf é for hours staring into space."

Gray accept the paperback and glanced at the cover. "'The Key to Unlocking Yourself'...?"

She grinned and Gray sighed, the underlying message she was sending him much too obvious. He only hoped that girl would give up the information after a day so he'd hear no word of any of this ever again.

It was official; Gray hated this book.

He was a little over halfway through it, and though he wasn't much of a reader, he had a lot of time to burn while Juvia wasn't at the cafe...which she hadn't been for the last two days. Gray hadn't dared to tell anyone at the guild that. If Natsu found out, he'd create an uproar that would disrupt the entire mission that he'd brought to the guild. If Erza found out, Gray would immediately be pulled from this assignment for such a royal screw up. The only thing he could've done that might be considered a worse move was take off his shirt in front of her and reveal that he was part of Fairy Tail. When Phantom Lord's guild master saw them as such intense rivals, there was no way Juvia would ever continue associating with him if she found out he was one of the "enemy."

Still, Gray couldn't take back the things he'd said. Before meeting her, he'd already been reluctant about taking on the mission for a number of reasons. Now that he knew who she was and how she was being treated, he wanted nothing more than to help her distance herself from this situation. The ever elusive Bora was real. Gray knew that now, and he was a really shitty person at that.

The major screw up had been his approach. No matter how terrible of a human being Bora was, Juvia still seemed to deeply care for the man. Gray's blunt opinion clearly hadn't been helpful in any way. He could find a better way if it meant showing her she deserved better.

…Of course, that was assuming she was ever going to show her face here again. He really hoped she would because this book was the absolute worst.

"Do you ever feel guilty? Do you ever feel at fault for the pain and suffering of someone else?" the book had asked him. It had to be mocking him. Levy had to be mocking him. This was definitely the chapter she'd wanted him to get to. "If so, this is not an unusual thing to feel. Many feel responsible for something negative happening in someone else's life, but this is a feeling that can drown you if you let it. When guilt, shame, and blame are all self-directed, it guards your ability to be truly happy. As such, this chapter's Key is one of the most important of all: The Key to Forgiving Yourself."

By the hair of The First, he hated this book.

Gray tossed the book on the table with disgust, not caring whether or not the water damage on it worsened. If Levy wanted it back in pristine condition, she shouldn't have given it to him to read during this mission. Or under false pretenses, for that matter.

Speaking of water damage… Gray looked around to see that it had started raining quite heavily. He leaned back and inhaled the cool, humid air. There was always something that was so soothing about the way rain made the air feel. Maybe it was just how the mist stood on his skin or the way his magic prickled at his fingertips in the presence of moisture, begging for him to create a work of art from the world's materials. He loved that feeling, because it didn't rain that often in Magnolia. At least, it didn't unless a certain mage was around.

As he raised his eyes forward, he found Juvia standing on the sidewalk outside the café's patio. She looked a little alarmed underneath her parasol, as if she were surprised to see him sitting there. For a moment, Gray had to force himself not to react. His heart was hammering hard in his chest in anticipation of her next move. Would she come in for her tea? Or would she walk away now that she knew he was here?

With a small grimace of her lips, she moved past the fence that surrounded the place and sat down at the table next to his. She was sitting in the same spot she'd been in when he first saw her here, which was a step backwards, but at least she was actually within eyeshot now. The real challenge was how he was going to get her to sit with him again. It'd been quite the challenge last time to figure out where to sabotage the umbrella she was sitting under just enough that it would annoy her into moving. Now she was braving rain water in her tea just so she didn't have to sit with him.

"Good to see you again," Gray said nonchalantly, though he was racking his brain to figure out how he was going to open a dialogue with her again now that she was actively trying to ignore him.

Juvia stared at the door to the café without any acknowledgement that she'd heard him whatsoever.

He reached forward to grab Levy's spawn-of-the-devil book and collapsed back into his seat. "You must've been busy. You were gone for a couple of days."

Again, she pretended like he wasn't talking to her. Gray carried on, hoping that he would somehow break through this wall of silence somehow.

"I'm not the quickest reader, but I really made some headway in this thing while you were away," he said as casually waved the object around. "Glad you came back with those rain clouds, though. If the water ruins this book, I'll have an excuse not to read the rest of it. It's a pain in the—"

"You like the rain...?" she suddenly cut in quietly. Juvia's gaze was no longer aimed in whatever direction was away from his face and her eyes shimmered with apprehension.

Gray wasn't sure exactly what he'd said to warrant that reaction, but he seemed to be on the right track. He had to tread carefully if he was going to recover the relationship he'd blown last time. "Well, it can be a little gloomy," he started honestly, "but I've always liked the way it feels on my skin. And it doesn't rain a lot around these parts, so I actually enjoy it when it does."

Juvia seemed to contemplate his answer for a moment before she followed up. "Then...it does not bother Gray-san that it always rains around Juvia?"

He shrugged. "Why would it?"

She smiled shyly and blushed, allowing Gray's heart rate to slow considerably. He'd done it. He'd managed to get her back on his side.

"Sometimes Juvia doesn't mind the rain so much either," she said. Her tone was amiable, like her comment was a peace offering.

"Listen, I'm…" Gray absently flipped through the pages of his book. "I'm sorry, for what I said the other day. I was out of line."

"Juvia accepts your apology," she replied softly with the barest of nods. She didn't say anything else, but did wave her hand at the waitress who finally saw them through the window. Feeling like he should quit while he was ahead, Gray firmly kept his mouth shut and turned the book to random page, though his eyes never left her.

A moment later, the water mage flinched a little when a raindrop snuck through a tiny hole in the umbrella and fell on her nose. She wiped it off carefully, letting the droplet sit on her fingertip as she stared at it thoughtfully. Eventually, she closed her hand into a fist and the water disappeared. Juvia placed her knuckle under her chin as her eyes dropped shut with a sigh.

Watching her, there were a million things Gray wanted to ask, but it wasn't the right time. Instead, he moved his eyes to the pages in front of him, all the while wondering why she seemed to care so much about the rain.

Gray knew they had truly made amends when Juvia sat with him the next day. And the day after that. And the day after that. The moment she showed up, she would politely inform him Bora had not yet contacted her and she would take a seat across from him. They talked about everything and nothing, from her guild's big mission of finding some rich dude's daughter to the proper way to each sandwiches. Sometimes there were long stretches of comfortable silence where Gray would simply (and begrudgingly) read his wretched book while Juvia sewed a teru-teru bōzu. When she showed him a plushie she'd made of one of her guild mates, Gray discovered that this girl was quite the crafty person.

Despite her claim that she disliked him, she had strangely become very open with him. She had spoken to him candidly ever since that comment he'd made about the rain. Between her strange fixation on the weather and the little prayer dolls she was making, Gray had to be blind not to realize that she had some deep-seeded psychological issue related to the rain that followed her around.

Erza called all of that research, but the mission was growing more uncomfortable to Gray by the day. Although Juvia had some strange quirks, it was clear to him that she was just a pretty decent person in general. She never badmouthed the people in her guild and seemed to work hard at her jobs. Even her initial response to him had been quite honest. She was...sweet.

Juvia just wasn't the type of person he was used to working. She was in a position with Bora that she clearly didn't deserve to be in. The longer he spent with her and the more he learned about her, the worse he felt about lying to her. How much she really knew about her boyfriend was up in the air, but he knew in his gut that she wouldn't condone anything Bora was doing. Still, he had to make sure.

It had been just shy of a week since they'd started sitting together again that Gray noted the sun peeking through the clouds, apparently determined not to allow the rain to drown out all its effects. Juvia came into view only a few seconds later. This time, along with her parasol, she was carrying a pink cardboard box with her. She was humming happily as she set the box down on the table they shared and she closed her umbrella.

"You're awfully chipper today," he said.

"It's a very good day," Juvia replied, beaming while she opened the box. "Bora-sama has not called Juvia yet, but I have a very good feeling that he will soon!"

Gray raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

She lifted a small bread bun out of the box, brandishing it with glee. "Melonpan!"

He stared at the bread in her hands, wondering if she were actually crazy after all. If there were ever a time that he thought melonpan would somehow change his entire day, he'd ask Natsu to bash him over the head.

When he didn't say a word, Juvia was content to continue chattering on herself. "You see, when Juvia met Bora-sama, it was in the very bakery this melonpan is from. Their melonpanin particular is very popular, so it's often sold out whenever Juvia goes, but they had some left that day." She passed the bread over to Gray who accepted it. "I received the last two and Bora-sama was behind me. He was so disappointed, Juvia decided to share one with him, and from then on, Juvia was forever bonded to him!"

Juvia picked up the second one with hearts in her eyes. "And today, there were only two melonpan left at the bakery! It's a sign! Juvia knows it!"

Gray withheld the crazy diagnosis, but was definitely finding her to be overly optimistic in an almost deluded way. Obviously Bora had done quite a number on her if she was this far gone. Still, it physically pained him to see someone admiring a kidnapping slave-owner. Was Bora that good of a sweet-talker or was Juvia just the type of girl who fell head over heels in love with her boyfriend of the day?

"That's lucky for me," Gray said. He took a bite of the bread, noting the pleasant sweetness of the bun and the buttery crunch of the top crust. It was no wonder this bakery's melonpanwas always sold out. "Sounds like you really love the guy."

She quieted for a moment, her enthusiasm muted as she chewed her bread. "Juvia...is always followed by the rain. Most people don't like to be around that all the time. Even Bora-sama likes to take some time away from it, but he has stayed with Juvia. That never happens outside the guild."

"Well, I'm still here, aren't I?" he asked pointedly. "Think your boyfriend would mind that you've been spending so much time with me over the last week?"

A shade of red took over Juvia's face and Gray grinned. She was so easily flustered.

"J-Juvia's trying to h-help Bora-sama's business!" she stuttered out.

"And you're sharing your sacred love bread with me. This is starting to look a little suspect," he continued as her eyes, glued to the melonpan in his hands, widened in realization.

"That's not what Juvia intended at all!" she wailed in horror.

With the girl mentally panicking over her decision to bring him bread, Gray took pity on her. As much fun as it was to watch her flounder, he was already putting her through enough. Maybe they hadn't quite become friends, but there was a level of trust between them that he was already breaking.

"Calm down. I was joking anyway," he said as he went straight back to business. "So you think I'll get to meet him soon?"

"I will be sure to tell him about Gray-san!" Juvia replied. "He will be glad to know that his company is becoming popular!"

Yeah...he'd sure be thrilled that some random guy knew about his floating festival of abduction. "Sure. Just let him know that I'm really looking forward to doing business." Gray just really hoped she didn't ask what kind, because he had no idea what Bora had told his girlfriend about the kind of trading he did if she didn't know the truth.

"Oh, that's right!" she said, blinking rapidly as if she'd just remembered something. "Juvia never asked whether Gray-san wants to buy or sell."

"Buy," Gray responded quickly. He forced himself not to lose eye contact as he picked up his coffee mug with his free hand and took a sip.

Juvia didn't appear to suspect a thing. "That makes sense. Gray-san is always drinking coffee here. Juvia knows that Bora-sama's imports are the best!"

Gray struggled to hide his surprise, almost choking on his beverage. Luckily, he managed to play it off as a small cough. Of all things...she thought Bora was a coffee importer? After he got past his own fortune in being a coffee drinker, it actually seemed like a pretty smart cover. Pretending to travel to different ports around Fiore to taste their blends as well as buy and sell throughout both the country and world gave him a reason to be away for long periods of time and was specific enough that Juvia wouldn't ask too many complicated questions.

Yeah, she wouldn't ask too many questions. Because she thought she knew all that there was to know. Because she thought that she was supporting her boyfriend's legitimate business. She was thinking all of these things and happily buying bread that honoured their first meeting.

Gray's grip on his melonpan tightened. Watching her sit across from him contently nibbling at her bread, he thought about everything he'd learned about her in the last few days. This girl...she was just a genuinely good person with a kind heart. He couldn't stand the fact that Bora was treating her like dirt. He couldn't stand the fact that he himself was sitting here and lying to get her to do what he wanted.

He suppressed his emotions like he was supposed to for the rest of the day, but the bread felt heavy in his stomach as Juvia chatted on about how she'd come across the bakery. La Forêt Cacheé, it was called, but Gray couldn't concentrate long enough to remember anything else she said about the place. She had to leave about ten minutes later—earlier than usual—because she had to work on that big mission for her guild. It gave Gray a reason to head back to his own guild headquarters feeling worse than usual.

The rain had departed with Juvia, but he stared at the darkened pavement beneath his feet with every step. Sunlight refracted through the droplets of water perched on the windows, sparkling almost too brightly. He brought a hand up to shield his eyes as he traveled. That girl, Lucy, and all the other girls she was with...they didn't have this view. They were missing out on the simplest pleasures in life, like walking through a town. If deceiving one girl was going to allow them to set that right, wasn't it worth it? Logically, it was, but he somehow couldn't make this whole thing feel less wrong.

As soon as he stepped through Fairy Tail's doors, Gray stripped off his shirt, feeling suffocated by the weight of his own thoughts. He couldn't believe he'd been able to able to keep all of his clothes on around Juvia for a week.

Oh jeez, he wondered what response Juvia would have to a comment like that.

"If you keep your face like that, it's going to stick," Erza told him as she came up beside him in her favourite Heart Kreuz armour. "Any progress today?"

He grimaced, as he'd been doing a lot lately. Gray couldn't be sure that his face wasn't stuck considering how terrible he felt. "Maybe, I dunno. She thinks he'll call soon for some absurd reason."

Erza shrugged. "Sounds like a good thing to me. The sooner the better. Besides, as soon as we figure out how to get to Bora, you won't have to do this anymore," she said, placing a hand on Gray's shoulder which didn't make him feel better at all.

"I shouldn't be doing this now," he retorted as he swiped her hand away. "Juvia doesn't know anything. She thinks her jerk of a boyfriend is a coffee importer."

Erza frowned, looking ready to knock some sense into him, but she remained stationary. "I know this is hard for you, but she's the only connection we have to a man who's abducting innocent girls. If you stop this mission now, your conscience isn't going to be clear either way," she said. "I'm not asking you to be without compassion, but think about the consequences of being indecisive. Don't make this about you."

He felt as if someone had stabbed him with an ice pick. She certainly hadn't hesitated in driving that point home, not that she was wrong. Gray really didn't want Juvia or any of the missing girls to get hurt, but he wasn't even sure that he was putting them first. Erza had a really good point. He was just wrapped up in the guilt of his part in this mission. Having already established a relationship with Juvia, there were only two courses of action: quitting or continuing. It went without saying that the outcome of continuing was the lesser of two evils.

"I get it. It's not about me," he grumbled.

His senior nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Let's just get this done and you can focus on making things right then."

Gray tried to find the positives of this commitment. He would help save the lives of a bunch of girls who were no older than he was. He would get to expose to Juvia the horrible scumbag Bora was, even if she hated the way he did it. Maybe this would be good for her. Maybe. He had to see it from that perspective or how else was he supposed to continue this job?

A door loudly closed from the second floor landing and Gray looked up, seeing the library door fall shut behind his childhood rival. Natsu locked eyes with him almost immediately and sprinted down the staircase with Happy in tow. Gray inwardly sighed. The man had been insufferable since fishing that bottle out of the water.

"You find him yet?" he asked as he skid to a stop in front of them.

"Not quite, but soon," Erza assured him, but this didn't seem to satisfy the dragon slayer.

Natsu clenched his fists, scowling deeply. "It's always 'not quite' or 'soon'! This is taking too long!" He turned his glare on Gray and pointed an accusing finger at him. "You didn't want to do this mission in the first place! I should've gone instead of getting stuck on research duty with Levy!"

"Seriously?" Gray scoffed as he shoved Natsu's arm out of his face. "I'm helping you, 'cause you couldn't pull off this mission if you tried. You could be a little more grateful, lizard face."

Heat radiated off his rival who was baring his teeth. Gray had half a mind to start cooling him off, but Erza's presence held him back. The last thing he wanted to do was piss off the Titania when she already looked like she was about to skewer someone with her sword if someone dared to make one more wrong move.

At first, he was sure that Natsu was going to start a fight, but in the next moment, the dragon slayer stood up straight and out of combat position.

"You know what? I'm sick of waiting," he said, looking at Erza pointedly. "I did what you and Master told me to and we aren't any closer to finding Lucy. I'm going to look for her myself! Let's go, Happy!"

"Aye!" the small cat responded, and the two of them went running through the exit.

Gray stared at their retreating backs for an instant, then glanced curiously back at Erza. "You're not going after them?"

She sighed in exasperation, but no longer looked like she was going to stab anyone. "You know as well as I do how he gets. I could stop him physically, but I can't babysit him. Letting him feel like he's doing something is better for all of us. Maybe now Levy can actually get some research done."

"What exactly is she researching anyway?" he asked.

"Well, tracking port traffic, for one thing, but she's also seeing if she can find out who else might be on that boat. She might not find anything, but at least if she does, we've got more of a lead than just Bora's girlfriend." Erza sent him a meaningful glance. "If we're lucky, we won't need another lead though."

"Let's hope we're lucky then," he muttered as he silently prayed that Bora really did contact Juvia soon. Doing this for a week was already too much. He couldn't fathom doing this for another one, because this wasn't about him, but he couldn't stop the feeling that was eating him from the inside.

Juvia was late—later than usual. There was usually a window of about 30 minutes where she would arrive every morning, but it was already ten minutes past that. Gray wondered if maybe her optimism had paid off and Bora had actually come to visit her or something. That seemed unlikely though, knowing the type of man her boyfriend was.

If he were being honest, he was a tad worried about where she ended up, but that was mostly because he had too much time to let his mind wander. The only thing that he had to occupy himself was that wretched book that Levy had given him, and that was clearly the worst book ever. Please, the Key to Forgiving Yourself? What a load of crap. Watching paint dry was preferable.

When another ten minutes of dry weather passed, Gray decided that he would only stay for another ten to see if she showed up. A full hour was a fair amount of time to wait.

It was only a second later that he felt a speck of water hit his face, causing him to blink. He looked up to the sky where dark clouds were beginning to form. The sound of a raindrop hitting the surface of the umbrella brought a grin to his face. As the rain grew heavier, he kept his eyes looking east, knowing exactly where she'd come from.

Sure enough, Juvia appeared before him under her parasol. She looked a little different than usual. It was her hair, he thought. It wasn't curled up along the sides like she always styled it. Instead, her hair hung loosely down onto her shoulders in messy blue waves. Gray briefly wondered if the change was for a special occasion of some sort until he saw her face. Her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks a little chapped, likely aggravated from being wiped.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, his chest physically throbbing from seeing her in this state. Is this what he would do to her if she ever found out the truth…?

"Juvia spoke with Bora-sama this morning," she said, her voice dull. "Bora-sama would like to meet with you."

He looked at her quizzically. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"Yes," she replied, almost whispering.

"Juvia," he started as he grasped her shoulders in concern, "if it's good, then I don't understand. What's wrong?"

Juvia swallowed audibly, as if holding something back. "Bora-sama would like to see you," she said, "but...he doesn't want to see me."

Chapter Text

Finding privacy was not an easy thing to do when stuck on a ship controlled by men. Lucy was certainly not alone on days where she was paraded around in skimpy clothing. Those days were exhausting, mentally more so than physically. Standing around and doing Bora's bidding eventually hurt her feet, though it was not nearly as taxing as being stuck on cleaning duty for one of the washrooms.

She was on her hands and knees on the floor, scrubbing the old wood beneath her with a damp rag. Sighing, she turned over and sat with her back against the wall. Lucy stared at the toilet across from her that was crusted with old urine and stained brown inside along the water line. The sink wasn't much better. It'd originally been white, but had developed a yellowish sheen from old age. Worse, the metal of the faucet was chipping off on various parts and rust was leaking down towards the drain. She didn't even want to think about what the specks on the porcelain were from. The fact that she was supposed to clean this room was bad enough.

On the other hand, she was alone. Lucy fished out the key she'd stuck into the side of her bra, clutching it like a lifeline. This was the only one she had left—her one connection to the outside world that she had remaining.

Lucy held her key forward, keeping her voice low so as to not alert the guard. "Open the Gate of the Canis Minor, Nikora!"

She felt a pull on what little magic she had left in her reserve and a small spirit came tumbling out of thin air, landing on his feet with a flourish. He looked like other dog spirits she had seen in books before with a round head and horn-like nose, but his cute button eyes were unique and his whole body was white. The dog spirit beamed at her despite his nonstop trembling.

"Puu! Puun!" he greeted her enthusiastically.

Lucy smiled back at the little spirit, the one beam of light in her life. She could feel the beads of sweat forming on her skin already. Her magic reserves were already fading. "You're name's Plue? It's nice to meet you. I'm Lucy." She shook his paw and got straight to business. "Which days work for you?"

"Puun! Puu puun!"

She nodded, trying to remember exactly what he was saying as she wiped the sweat from her brow. "I'm sorry. I don't have a lot of time."

He patted the top of her hand gently, as if he understood. To her surprise, Plue climbed into her lap and lay his body flat against her torso, his arms wide. It was only after a second that she realized that he was hugging her. Lucy stroked his head with a smile. She...really needed that.

Lucy was absolutely convinced that Arisa had been sent by some higher power to make her life more miserable. If the cracking skin on her fingers or status as a captive to a madman weren't bad enough, this girl certainly made things pretty terrible.

She liked to talk. Of course, if talking were all it was, Lucy's opinion of this insufferable harpy likely wouldn't be as harsh. Unfortunately, the obnoxious narcissistic bragging started as soon as she woke up, usually to Rei who was pumped too full of drugs to really process what was being said to her. When on the receiving end of the same treatment, Kagura was too passive to say anything mean and too indifferent to ask her to go away. Lucy, on the other hand, was short-tempered. She couldn't handle more than two minutes of the chatter before telling Arisa off. This never boded well for Lucy considering Arisa was a major snitch.

Lucy was never going to understand how anyone would possibly want the attention of the man who kidnapped them, but there was living proof in her room right now. Today she was bothering Kagura who sort of mindlessly nodded along. Rei was on her cleaning shift for the day, leaving Lucy to spend some blessed time on her own. This was nothing close to real privacy, but being left alone with her thoughts during the day was a rare thing to come by.

She lay on her stomach, the scratchiness of the mattress against her skin making her belly itch. Reaching forward, she tucked her hand into the hole she'd picked into the side of her mattress and wrapped her fingers around the Canis Minor key. Her thumb ran over the smooth ridges of the symbol, sighing as the tension left her body. That key offered her comfort like nothing else on this wretched boat.

"What's your deal, blondie?" Arisa asked from her spot on Kagura's mattress. "Ever since you got Touya in trouble, you've been all whiny and brooding. That kind of thing is for, like, Fumiko. You don't pull it off like her."

Letting out an exasperated huff, Lucy let go of her key and turned over on her mattress. There were so many things wrong with that last statement that she didn't even know where to start.

Firstly, she hadn't gotten Touya in trouble; as soon as Bora walked back into his office that day, he'd come to his own conclusions. The man had punished Touya in some way that Lucy hadn't been privy to, but the next time she saw him, he had two black eyes, a swollen jaw line, and he stayed far away from her. She'd left the room without any difficulty only because she'd been sitting on the ground like a good little girl by the time he'd gotten back. She was also slightly satisfied the man had gotten a bit of what he deserved.

Second of all, it was just plain wrong to compare her to Fumiko. Both of them had certainly underwent a rather traumatizing experience, but Fumiko had been paraded around naked in front of the entire crew while they harassed her by pinching her skin and throwing food. The girl was completely shattered from that incident, not "whiny and brooding." Lucy, at least, counted herself lucky to have escape such a horrifying event like that.

And lastly, she wasn't trying to pull off anything. She was angry and filled with angst—which, oddly enough, were the emotions she would've described back when she was stuck at home as well. In truth, all she'd done was go from one prison to the next. At least the first one had had better living conditions.

"Why don't you just worry about yourself?" Lucy retorted, staring down the brunette with an aggravated expression.

"Oh I'm not worried," she replied with a haughty shrug, "you just happen to be in my sightline and it's a very annoying sight."

"I hope I make your eyes bleed," Lucy muttered under her breath.

"What was that, blondie?"

"Leave her alone, Arisa," Kagura finally cut in. She was seated on her bed with her knees pulled up into her chest. "I don't see why you're trying to pick a fight. She's on cleaning duty as soon as Rei gets back anyway."

Arisa scoffed and threw her waist-length hair back before standing up and retreating to her own mattress. "You're pretty annoying too."

That makes three of us, Lucy thought to herself as she rolled her eyes. Fortunately, Arisa lay down and turned to face the wall while Lucy mouthed a "thank you" to the only person on this ship she even remotely considered an ally. Kagura sent back a small nod before closing her eyes. The girl retreated into her own world as she sat cross-legged in silence. It was something Kagura commonly did to pass the time. Lucy thought maybe she was meditating.

A few more minutes passed before Rei returned from her shift cleaning. The henchman who had escorted her looked pointedly at Lucy who discreetly tucked the Canis Minor key into her closed fist. She stood and walked by her roommate without a word. Rei rarely said anything these days anyway, but the broken skin on her hands indicated that she'd probably been on duty in the engine room. Bora had little use for her since he'd started on her sedatives. It was no mystery as to why he always assigned her the jobs using steel wool.

Lucy was thankful that she ended up on laundry duty for the day. It would spare her hands the cruel treatment Rei had undergone and the physical exertion wasn't as intense. Although cleaning shit stains off a bunch of men's underwear was not her definition of "fun," at least Bora had actually put a washer and dryer on the ship.

There were three sets of utilities in the laundry room and that generally meant that two other girls were working in there with her, but for whatever reason, today she was alone. The clothes bin beside the door did look a little sparse compared to usual. With the guard waiting for her outside for the duration of her shift, she hid her key in her bra and got working right away. The best thing about doing laundry was that when the clothes were in the washer, she could get a minute to herself. That meant she could possibly call Plue again—something she'd been itching to do ever since she'd summoned him the first time.

She dragged the clothing bin over to the folding bench of the dark room and began sorting the articles into piles, far past cringing over dirty underwear. It was much nicer to think about the maids back home who had taught her how to do all these instrumental house chores. When she'd been living at home, she had been so starved for attention that even doing housework sounded good if she had someone to do it with her.

It didn't take long for Lucy to organize the dirty clothes and place them in the washers. A perfect three loads went in and she pulled clothes out of the dryer and discarded them on the bench. With the clothes washing and lots of things to fold, she thought it was the perfect time to summon Nikora.

She pointed the key forward, trying to stay as quiet as she'd been the last time. "Open the Gate of the Canis Minor, Nikora!"

Plue abruptly fell into the pile of clothes on the bench and clumsily stood back up to wave at her. The little celestial spirit looked a bit ridiculous as he blearily smiled at her with a pair of boxers hanging off his pointy nose. Lucy bit back a laugh. It was such a warm feeling. When was the last time she had felt good about something?

"Puun," he said as he pointed to his waving hand. It was only then that Lucy realized he was carrying something that looked like a pen with him.

She took the pen from him curiously. There seemed to be a piece of paper coiled tightly around the object, bound by the pen clip. Her brow furrowed as she pulled the pen away to let the paper unfurl. There was writing on it and her whole body spasmed in shocked when she read the first word.

Lucy.

The piece of paper fluttered to the floor, curling back into itself, and she stared at it in disbelief. Why was her name on it?

Still frozen in place, her brain still wasn't quite working when Plue stumbled off the bench with a bunch of underwear latched around his little limbs. At least the boxers had fallen off his nose. He picked up the paper and waved it at her forcefully.

She tried to pull herself together and do the logical thing. Plue only had her best interests at heart and every second that she spent in a daze was another second wasted. There was no telling when she would get another chance to be alone. With that in mind, she accepted the note and smoothed it out against the surface of the workbench. She swallowed as she read her name again, trying to slow her heart rate.

Lucy,

I found your letter in Hargeon's harbour and I want you to know that I'm going to help you. My friend Yukino has your keys. She's a Celestial Spirit Mage so she'll take good care of them. We talked to your spirit Aquarius too. I think she's worried about you, but she'll be okay because I'm going to find you.

Aquarius told us you have a key for Canis Minor, so we're giving this letter to Yukino's bug thing and hoping he'll find yours. We know your name and if you're reading this, now you know ours. If you get this, write us back. We'll find you. I promise.

"Na...tsu...?" she said out loud. It was the name signed at the bottom of the note, the person who claimed she would save her. Her and Yukino.

A flurry of emotions ran through her as she stared at the ink the page. She didn't quite know how to settle herself after learning all of these things. Her mind was working overtime just trying to focus on one thing. Then, instead of doing something productive with the new information she'd just obtained, she clutched the letter in her hands as her elbows fell to her thighs and she hunched over, crying. The overwhelming sense of relief spilled out of her like a broken dam.

Someone had found her letter. Someone had written her back. When Lucy had penned that letter, she'd never in a million years thought it would be discovered in her lifetime. She didn't need to calculate the odds to know that it was nearly impossible, that she would have to rely solely on herself to get out of this hellhole. And to hear that Aquarius cared about her was something that could barely compute. Good things didn't happen to her. Her mother had died, the spirit left behind for her hadn't respected her, her father had turned bitter, and she'd gotten kidnapped by some scumbag when she tried to turn things around for herself. Yet somehow, somehow, someone had found her letter in the very harbour she'd been taken away from.

Lucy let out a shaky chuckle in amusement. What a damn coincidence.

"Pun puun," said Plue as he patted her gently on the leg.

"You're right. I need to pull it together," she replied with a small smile, sniffling. "I've only got enough magic to keep your gate open for five more minutes."

She clicked the pen open and turned the piece of paper over to write a concise reply. Prioritizing what to write was a bit of a struggle while she was both maintaining Plue's gate and overcome with emotion, but she managed it—and with neater penmanship than the first letter, even. Processing could come later; it was a welcome change from the self-loathing.

When her response was done, Lucy wound the sheet back around the pen and clipped it the same way she'd received it. Plue was already reaching for the package before it was done.

As he held the pen tightly in both hands, Lucy crouched down and pat the spirit on the head. "Thanks for everything, Plue. I'll call you again as soon as I can."

The spirit was on a mission. He nodded at her with determination in his eyes, quickly chirping out his goodbye before he disappeared in a magical puff. Lucy sighed as she felt the pull on her magic settle. She leaned back on her hands and took a deep breath, exhaling as she let herself smile. The rumble of the washing machines kept her firmly in reality, but she didn't mind. Straightening only a second later, she began folding the clothes that were strewn around her.

After all, the laundry still had to be done.

"Oops—sorry. I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"It's fine."

Lucy chortled a bit at Kagura's response. Even the most stoic of them was prone to boredom, which was why the teen was allowing Lucy to pick out the split ends of her hair. Though she was generally fairly skilled at working with hair, Lucy had most certainly slipped a couple of times and accidently tugged Kagura's hair at the roots. Regardless, zero complaints came out of her mouth. It barely looked as if she had even felt it.

Kagura continued to sit perfectly still as Lucy worked at her hair. The whole thing was rather mundane, but it was a welcome alternative to Arisa's ramblings. It gave Kagura an excuse to meditate and Lucy an activity to concentrate on instead of wondering every five minutes if Natsu and Yukino had received her reply. Besides, Kagura had beautiful hair. They got to shower once each week and somehow her hair still looked like she was washing it every day.

Lucy was working on a particularly stubborn strand of hair when Arisa piped up. "What the hell's this?"

She squinted at the split end, sour that the thing wasn't cooperating with her. Kagura's hair really deserved better than this. Frayed ends had no place in that beautiful head of hair. Of course, there was no way to truly get rid of all the tattered ends without a trim.

"Lucy."

She paused at the sound of Kagura's voice this time, looking up from her work in confusion. The younger girl hadn't moved from her spot, but her eyes were trained directly in front of them were Arisa was standing on top of Lucy's mattress. Worse, she was holding Lucy's celestial key.

Several emotions immediately surfaced as she jumped to her feet, but the main one was panic. "Why are you poking around my mattress?" Lucy demanded, already on the borderline of hysterics.

"Please, I found it fair and square on the floor. I think the real question is why this was lying around near your bed in the first place," Arisa replied with a haughty look on her face. She turned the key over in her fingers a few times, looking at it with disinterest. "Not sure why you care so much either. It's a pretty dull accessory. Did you lift it from the dressing room?"

Lucy took a step forward, her shoulders raised in tension. She couldn't care less about what the other girl thought about magical key aesthetics, but there was no chance in hell that she was going to leave Nikora in those hands. Internally, she was cursing herself. What kind of person would so carelessly put away something so important to her? A stupid one. She was so stupid.

"Just give it back," she hissed.

Arisa hummed as she glanced around the room, feigning thought. "No, I don't think so."

"You just said you don't like it."

"I said it was dull, not that I didn't like it."

Lucy glared. Of course she was going to resort to semantics.

"Besides," Arisa started smugly, "now that I know you care so much about it, I think I'm going to keep it."

"You can't," Lucy said in a low voice. At this point, she was ready to use whatever energy she had on fighting her roommate. Her knees were bent and her fists were clenched with the desire to drive them into someone's face.

Arisa smirked. "What are you going to do about it?"

That was it; an open invitation to fight. Lucy sprang forward but found herself being lurched back by a set of hands on her shoulders. Her head whipped around to see Kagura holding on to her, a warning in her eyes.

"It's not worth it," she said, her hands tightening around Lucy's shoulders.

But it was worth it, and Lucy didn't know how to express this because literally the only thing on her mind was how she could kill Arisa with her bare hands for messing with her keys. Kagura simply couldn't understand how important that simple item was to her. Some girls would be broken by being stripped naked and tossed around by crew members, but Lucy knew she would break if she lost the spirit that had given her hope. Losing that key felt like losing everything.

Lucy stopped fighting Kagura's grip. She stilled, but the rage swirling inside her did not. "You can't have it."

"Finders keepers," Arisa replied.

She nearly lost it again, but Kagura moved in front of her, holding an arm out to block her instead. "Give her the key, Arisa."

Arisa's face turned sour. "You two are just a merry little band, aren't you? I knew Lucy had a stick up her ass, but I thought you might be less of a bitch."

"Give her the key," Kagura repeated firmly, giving no indication that she'd heard the insult.

"Hmm, nah."

Kagura's eyes narrowed and suddenly Arisa screamed. Lucy found herself blinking in disbelief as she saw the woman plummet to the ground, crumpling into a ridiculous position. She was on her knees with her arms outstretched forward and butt in the air while the Canis Minor key, which had fallen out of her hands in the process, rolled to a stop beside Lucy's mattress.

"Get your key," Kagura told her through clenched teeth. Sweat was starting to form on her brow and her hardened eyes were trained intensely on Arisa.

Lucy looked swiftly between both of her roommates, completely stunned. "You're—"

"Hurry."

She didn't need to be told a third time. Stepping out from behind Kagura's arm, Lucy swiftly retrieved her key while Arisa screamed nonstop. After Nikora was safely back in her possession, she returned to Kagura's side who was breathing heavily as her expression softened. Arisa scrambled off the floor and threw her back against the wall furthest from them.

"You're fucking crazy! You're some sort of magic freak!" Arisa shrieked uncontrollably. "Stay away from me, you crazy bitch!"

The screaming continued, but Lucy's attention was directed on the banging now coming from the other side of the door. "Hey! Shut the hell up! What's going on in there?" she heard one of the guards yell. He'd probably been on patrol when he heard them.

With the way Arisa was screeching, Lucy knew it was impossible that the guard would leave them alone. She tucked her key away into the waistband of her shorts and pulled her shirt down over it. The banging intensified and Lucy glanced over at the door again just as it burst open.

"What's happening in here?" the guard, Umino, Lucy thought his name was, demanded looking fairly aggravated.

Kagura, who had composed herself and had wordlessly stood there taking all the verbal abuse that came her way without a reaction of any kind, simply pointed at Arisa who was still in the throes of a major breakdown. Umino took one look at the manic girl and his face crinkled in anger.

"Hey! Shut your mouth right now!" he bellowed, running low on patience.

However, Arisa could not be deterred in her tirade. "—use your weirdo voodoo on me! A witch! You're a fucking witch! You should just kill yourself! You should—"

It was at that point that Umino stepped over to her and hauled her over his shoulder. He took her with him as he left the room, slamming the door behind him. Arisa's shrieks were audible for another good ten seconds until the room finally fell silent again. They both knew where she was headed: The Closet. It was a linen closet on the ship with its shelves torn out to house a person in hysterics. The crew would shut you in the cramped, dark space until you calmed down. Lucy knew the place well after having an anxiety attack when she'd first woken up on this ship. Now that she thought about it, it was one of the better places to be alone with your thoughts when it came to this hellhole. Arisa was lucky it was the only thing that would happen to her for flipping out like that.

And, of course, there was the reason for her flipping out in the front of Lucy's mind. She looked at Kagura who slunk back down onto her mattress in exhaustion. Lucy dropped to her roommate's level in pursuit of answers.

"You're a mage."

Kagura appeared unfazed by the statement. "As are you."

Settling herself next to Kagura, Lucy decided that there was finally one person on this ship that she might be able to trust. "I am. I'm a Celestial Spirit Mage. I can connect spirits to our world by opening a gate with their keys. What did you do to Arisa?"

For the first time, Kagura cracked a hint of a smile. "Gravitational magic. Before this whole ordeal, I was training to master swordsmanship. Gravity a is useful tool to have on your side." She paused when Lucy didn't respond right away, any traces of humour diminishing from her face. "I have to get off this ship, Lucy."

"So do I," Lucy said, "and I think I might have a way."

There was an unspoken pact that formed between the two. Kagura would watch her back and she would watch Kagura's. Everything was falling into place. Lucy told Kagura everything that happened since the night she'd almost been raped by Touya. She agreed to keep Kagura up to date on what was happening with her pen pals and both of them would keep Arisa from getting either of them in trouble.

By nightfall, Rei had returned to their room and any conversation between the allies ceased. Lucy lay awake on her mattress, staring at the ceiling. She'd made sure to put Nikora's key away securely this time and vowed to herself that she would never make the same mistake again. One day, she would look at a different ceiling that she knew wasn't part of a prison. One day, she'd wake up in a bed that she'd chosen as her own. Today, with someone on her side, at least she could fall asleep and be less afraid of what tomorrow would bring.

She closed her eyes and let sleep take her, pulling into a world where she was free. Lucy ran through a meadow, greener and more beautiful than she could describe as the grass tickled her ankles with every stride. When her legs finally started burning, she stopped, panting heavily. She looked to the vibrant sky and tasted freedom with every breath. Snow swirled in the air, but she only felt the warmth of the sun.

Chapter Text

I don't know how, and I don't know why, but I'm still in disbelief that someone found my letter so soon. That you have a Nikora spirit is even more of a miracle. I'm not even sure when you wrote me back, but I hope you get this soon.

Thank you for keeping my keys safe. I don't have a lot of time to write—it's hard to get time alone on this ship—but I'm grateful just to keep in correspondence with you. Even just that makes me feel less alone.

Thank you for trying to help me. Thank you, Natsu. Thank you, Yukino.

Chapter Text

"He wants to buy? How much does he know about my operation?" Bora asked over the line. His voice was critical, like he was trying to figure out how competent she really was.

Juvia bit her lip, tamping down on the feeling of condescension she was suddenly all too aware of. It wouldn't have been like this in the past, when any doubts she had would be locked away. Now, those very same emotions were bubbling to the surface, giving way to immutable weight that was her insecurity, with her boyfriend doing nothing to better it and everything to make it worse.

"I don't know," she replied, her voice strained. "Juvia doesn't know much about Bora-sama's operations either."

He hummed into the Lacrima obliviously. "I suppose it's just my reputation precedes me. Alright. I'll meet with him."

She wasn't sure whether or not to be surprised by his answer, but she dared to let herself hope a little that he would want to see here now that he was coming to town. "Bora-sama? May I accompany him?"

There was a long silence from the other side before she heard him clear his throat. "...Don't be stupid, Juvia. This is business. And you're just going to make things more difficult with all your rain."

"I...I understand..."

"Good. I'll call you back tomorrow with the details of where we're docking. Don't get any ideas."

He didn't say goodbye when he abruptly broke off the connection. Juvia sat there staring into the small, blank crystal atop her dresser. It had glowed when she was using it, but now its smooth surface just looked dull and lifeless. The crystal was small and only offered audio for calls so she hadn't seen Bora's face in it, and as she stared at it, she could only see the reflection of her own.

She had the meeting location. In fact, it was quite similar to the very town she was standing in.

Hargeon, Juvia figured, was as beautiful as ever. Of course, how could she of all people know that when its shining waters and characteristic architecture were being stormed on by the rain? Clouds were inevitable wherever she went, but the dark skies didn't have to be. Given that she had a rather tumultuous state of mind, they were more than likely the reason for the darkness looming overhead.

"You seen her?" Gajeel snarled at a female pedestrian who took one look at his face and went screaming off in the opposite direction. He scowled, turning the photo he'd thrust at the woman around to look at it himself. "Tch, people around here. Can't even look at a picture of this blondie without running off with their tails tucked between their legs."

Juvia stared at her companion disbelievingly. "Gajeel-kun... You really think the picture is what's scaring them?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I ain't holding anything else."

She was too wrapped up in thinking about her own issues to bother thinking of a response, focusing on the ground in front of her instead. There weren't a lot of people around to look out for anyway; she was pretty sure that had something to do with the rain.

Gajeel's next attempt was spent on a skinny businessman who cowered under the intensity of the gaze upon him. The dragon slayer was more or less looming over the poor man. It probably didn't help that he hadn't bothered with an umbrella and looked vaguely like a crazed murderer with his hair and clothes soaked through. Disjointed words came out of the man's mouth with no discernible meaning and Gajeel backed off, seeing no reason to continue speaking with a dead lead. Seeing the businessman depart (looking like he was walking as fast as he could without being insulting), Juvia sighed loudly in a mixture of sorrow and frustration.

Gajeel read her easily. "If it's so bad, then you talk to these wimps. You spent guild funds to pay for the ticket here, so pull your own damn weight!"

She stopped abruptly, crumbling a little. Oh, and here came the waterworks, as if the rain weren't enough.

"W-wait! I didn't mean it! Stop crying!" he said, lifting his hands as though he was surrendering.

Juvia sniffled and tried to compose herself. "Ooh, it's not your fault, Gajeel-kun. J-Juvia is just very confused."

His tense posture relaxed a bit at her response. Gajeel had a rough exterior, but he was truly just a big softie underneath that. Mostly, he was misunderstood because he was so bad at communicating. Despite that, she knew he considered her a friend even though he might never call her that out loud.

"Why don't you take the lead? Maybe it'll get your mind off things."

She didn't expect him to ask anything further than that and he didn't. Gajeel kept his mouth firmly shut and just followed after her. Juvia didn't particularly want to speak to anyone right now, but they weren't going to get anywhere on this mission if her partner scared off any person within their general vicinity.

Twirling her parasol gently in her hands as it rested on her shoulder, she approached a man who was walking past under his umbrella. When she showed him the picture of Lucy Heartfilia, there were no signs of recognition in his eyes, but for some reason he insisted that she looked familiar. He was quite friendly, so she gave him the benefit of the doubt. Gajeel, however, was starting to look rather irate after about three minutes of chatting with him.

"I swear, it'll come back to me. Something'll jog my memory," he said with an adamant nod.

"It would really help us if you did remember something," she replied, jumping a little when she felt an arm snake across her shoulders. "Um..."

The low daylight glinted off his glasses as he tilted his head down. "Or, y'know, maybe it's gonna take some time for my memory to kick in. We could meet tomorrow. Over coffee. I'm sure I'll have remembered more by then."

Juvia stared at his smirking face, feeling both flustered and confused. "Oh, I-I don't..."

Luckily, she was rescued by Gajeel who yanked the male away from her by the collar of his shirt. His umbrella fell out of his hand in the momentum and he yelped as he rolled onto the wet sidewalk.

"Gajeel-kun!" she gasped, hand coming up over her mouth.

His eyes narrowed at the man on the ground. "You're way too oblivious sometimes. You wouldn't have noticed this loser hitting on you unless he started declaring his undying love for you to the world."

"Juvia doesn't understand what you mean!" She stomped forward to go help the pedestrian when a strong grip pulled her in the opposite direction.

"We're going," he declared. His iron hold on her was nothing to laugh at either. Her boots skid against the ground as she tried to resist him, but Gajeel was simply too strong. He basically dragged her all the way down four blocks without any issue.

He finally released her after entering a small pasta restaurant which left Juvia in a rush to close her parasol. As he was far less conscious of manners, Gajeel simply shook himself off at the front door, the droplets assaulting the glass of the nearby window and the host's podium. Needless to say, the host's smile was visibly forced as he showed them to a table in the quaint restaurant. It was only when they were seated in a booth near the entrance that Juvia had a chance to ask him all the questions running through her head.

"What was that all about?" she asked as she glared at her mission companion for the day.

Gajeel shrugged, perusing the menu with great interest. "I was hungry."

She scoffed and crossed her arms. "Gajeel-kun knows that's not what Juvia meant!"

"I need carbs," he said, his head not shifting in the slightest.

"Gajeel-kun!" Juvia hissed. When he continued to ignore her, she made sure a few leftover beads of water that were on his arm were adjusted to a scalding heat. Three...two...and he yelped, right on time.

"Jeez, woman!" Gajeel swiped at the water on his arm rather hurriedly. Only a few little red marks remained, but Juvia had known her tactics were more likely to annoy him than injure him. "I already told you what that guy was about! I ain't about to let you strut around and let morons waste our time!"

She frowned and crossed her arms indignantly. "He was going to tell me something."

"You are too soft," Gajeel replied as he threw down his menu in exasperation. "You fall for it every time some guy uses a line on you. This guy might've hid it better, but he was five seconds from saying something nauseating that would've had you thinking he was your soul mate or some shit."

"Juvia has a boyfriend," she retorted. She resented that fact that Gajeel seemed to think she was so gullible, but even worse, he implied that she might be unfaithful because of some smoothing-talking man. He couldn't be more wrong about that one; she'd resisted Gray just fine.

However, she didn't expect him to snort in response.

"You're missing the point," he said, directing his attention back to the menu. "That guy was lying to your face because he wanted something from you. You're completely oblivious when guys are treating you like shit."

Juvia stared at her guild mate, open-mouthed. She was absolutely certain that there was something she was supposed to say in return because he was being so rude, but nothing seemed to be coming to mind. Instead, she bit her lip and looked down hard at her own menu.

If there was one thing she knew, it was that Gajeel wouldn't say something to her that he didn't think was true. He was too honourable for that, if only because he had little time for nonsense. At the same time, how could she possibly acknowledge that his statement was true to her? Was it? Juvia distinctly remembered standing up to Gray when she thought he was being disrespectful, but outside of that...

No. No, surely there was another man she'd stood her ground against. The way Gajeel phrased it, there had to have been more than just Gray who was misbehaving around her. Gray hadn't even been very bad; he'd basically spelled out his intentions the moment they started having a real conversation. Other than that, most of the men she met outside of the guild didn't show any interest in her. Of course, there were a few—none that stayed for more than a few dates once she subtly tried to slip in her involvement with the weather or refused sexual advances—but her interactions with the opposite gender were generally limited to her exes.

Juvia's experiences with her past boyfriends weren't exactly great either, but that had to be a separate issue from what Gajeel was saying. Being in a relationship was difficult. Compromising was key if she wanted to fight for love, and she would gladly do that if it meant preserving their bond. Unfortunately, she'd been dumped every time anyway. Men simply couldn't get past the rain, so she did her best to make it up to them. None of those interactions left her feeling very good either.

Gray's words from the week prior suddenly came creeping back into her mind. He'd said something very similar to Gajeel's own words about being treated well. It wasn't really something Juvia thought about when it came to her significant others. She simply saw that they were unhappy and tried to fix it. Compromise for love.

A salad was placed in front of her and Juvia blinked in surprise, looking ahead to see Gajeel stuffing his face with a loaf of bread. She stared at him until he paused, apparently aware that her eyes on him.

"Werrf?" he demanded, mouth stuffed like a squirrel.

Juvia simply sighed and picked up her fork, poking at the lettuce on her plate. "Gajeel-kun, what did you mean before?"

He chewed for another second before swallowing. "I mean exactly what I said. You're a doormat. You think too much with that—" He pointed at her chest. "—instead of with this," he finished, gesturing at his own head. Snorting, he smirked as he picked up another small loaf. "You want me to tell you what guys think with?"

"There's no need to be vulgar," she murmured. The salad somehow looked even less appealing to her than it had a few minutes ago. "You... You don't think that of Bora-sama, right?"

Gajeel's face crinkled in disgust. "Shut up. Now. We're not doing this."

"Doing what?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"Talking. About boys. Talking about you and boys. It needs to stop right now. We're on a mission, not a feelings retreat."

Despite how much he was protesting, Juvia knew that it was only the outward apparently of caring that really seemed to bother him, and she also knew exactly how to win against that. She really needed to hear Gajeel's full opinion. He was the only person in the guild that really knew her on a personal level, mostly because he'd been the first one she was introduced to at Phantom Lord—the first person outside Jose who'd accepted her—and she'd stuck to him like a burr after that. Where she spoke, he stayed silent, and when he did speak, his bluntness was incredibly refreshing. Somehow, this dynamic worked incredibly well for them. He didn't find Juvia annoying and always listened when she talked, even if he didn't appear to be doing so. Somewhere along the line, his own level of comfort around Juvia had evolved, and while she wouldn't exactly call them best buddies, there was certainly a level of friendship there that neither of them could claim to have with anyone else.

Juvia sat up straighter, meeting her comrade in a defiant stare. "But...if Juvia is acting like Gajeel-kun says, doesn't that reflect poorly on the guild?"

"You..." he started before choking on his words. Shaking his head for a moment, he let out a long breath before speaking again. "Fine. You want the truth? You're gonna get it."

There was a steely coldness in his eyes that told her he meant what he said, and she probably wasn't going to like it.

"Bora is a complete shithead and you should dump his ass," Gajeel said. "You spend all your time waiting for him to call when he never does, and frankly? He just uses you when he wants stuff. I've never heard you talk about anything nice he's done for you."

It was a stab in the gut to hear him say it out loud, but she wasn't ready to go off on him like she had Gray. She was coming out of a very painful Lacrima conversation that hadn't done anything to assuage the mounting insecurities about her relationship and all of these words now felt more like facts than attacks on her boyfriend.

"You know, Gajeel-kun, someone told Juvia the same thing a couple weeks ago," she replied in a soft voice. "I was very mad at him for saying that since Bora-sama has stayed with me even with the rain, but this other person has too..."

Gajeel snickered. "Gi hi hi, so you've got another one lined up?"

It was practically an involuntary reaction for the implied image to appear in her head—and it happened far too easily, if Juvia had any say in her own thoughts. Handsome Gray with his partially lidded dark eyes and enigmatic smile beckoned her to the table they always shared at the cafe. Come out of the rain, he'd tell her, and let me dry you off.

"Oi!" her gruff companion's voice cut into her fantasy. The expression on his face had gone from amused back to disgusted. "I was trying to make fun of you! That wasn't supposed to be the basis of your next delusion!"

She flushed in embarrassment. The fact that he was so spot on was worse than the fact that she had indeed been caught fantasizing I the middle of their conversation—the one that she'd been trying to have. "Sorry… It's just that...that person, Gray-san, is part of the reason Juvia is confused. You see, he doesn't talk to Juvia for the reason you're implying. He simply wants to do business with Bora-sama. He was quite open about it."

"So? What's the problem? Doesn't your jerk of a boyfriend want to meet this guy?" Gajeel asked as he looked ravenously at the pasta the waiter had just placed on their table.

"Well, yes, but he wants to meet Gray-san alone. Without Juvia…" The waterworks began to surface again, inadvertently redirecting Gajeel's attention. "I'm not sure...if I should tell Gray-san about the meeting place."

He looked genuinely concerned now, an expression she didn't see on Gajeel very often. "Why don't you want to tell him," he asked in a low voice. It was clearly a question, but the way he said it was more like a statement.

Juvia's chest was so tight, she could barely breathe. She lost the fight against her tears as she was forced to acknowledge her shameful reasoning. Had she always been like this? Or had she changed over time, becoming a more pathetic and despicable person with every scar from her past? Would Gajeel recognize how weak she really was to have even had this conflict?

"Because—" she choked between sobs. "Because then Gray-san will leave me, l-like Bora-sama and everyone else before him."

Gajeel stared at her for a long moment, his face indecipherable. Finally, he moved to pull his jacket off before slamming his right elbow down against the table. The silverware shook, surprising Juvia a little. Her eyes rose to her companion's as he slapped his hand over his exposed shoulder.

"You see this?" he asked, the guild mark stamped on his skin peeking out from beneath his hand. "This doesn't mean nothing. It means we watch each other's backs. It means we don't abandon each other. It means we're comrades. Whoever leaves you is just someone you couldn't count on in the first place."

She wiped her tears away with her sleeve, clutching the fabric of her dress with her right hand. Her own stamp was there, just above her right thigh. It represented the first place that had accepted her as she was, a place where she could feel like she belonged, but she'd never felt close to anything until now. For the first time, it didn't feel like it was just the guild that connected them. He was using it to make a point, but that point would stand whether or not that stamp was on their bodies.

They were...friends.

"Thank you," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "Gajeel-kun."

"Yeah... Whatever," he replied as he shrugged his jacket back on, then immediately went to pick up his fork. "Now unless you're about to give me a big hunk of metal, let me have my carbs."

Two weeks. Juvia watched the man she had known for two weeks as he sat at their table, nearing the end of his book as he sipped his coffee. She stayed back and observed him from behind the office building across from the café. He probably had some sort of semblance that she was nearby, what with the weather and all, but he didn't look for her. From time to time, his expression would change—usually to one of disdain—while his eyes scanned the page. It was a wonder he was always reading that book when he seemed to hate it so much.

But...two weeks. How was it that after only two weeks and limited time together, she had become so emotionally attached to him? There was no point in lying to herself; she was afraid that this relationship she'd developed with Gray would just disappear as soon as he got his business opportunity, and that was the issue, wasn't it? None of this should've mattered to her. Gajeel was right. Her heart led her far too much. There was all of this investment she'd unintentionally put into Gray because of the way he made her feel. In the moments when they were just sitting together at the café having a silly conversation about food, a warmth she couldn't describe seemed to spread through her chest. That was a feeling she could never forget. It was intoxicating. It was something she'd never felt before. It was wrong.

Juvia took slow and deliberate steps towards their meeting place. The heels of her boots were loud against the concrete and she knew they would draw his attention. As soon as she felt his eyes on her, she moved with more conviction. She stopped beside him with the shaft of her parasol held tightly against her.

"You aren't gonna sit?" he asked, a little puzzled as he lowered his book.

She shook her head slightly, still caught up in her own thoughts. "Gray-san, Juvia...wants to ask you a question."

"Okay...?"

She swallowed. "Are we...friends?"

Gray closed his eyes for a moment, almost as if he we're contemplating the answer, but his voice was not evenly remotely hesitant. "I don't know about you, but that's what I consider you."

"Why?" she asked, forcing the question out of her throat.

"Because I care about what happens to you," he replied. "If there was something I could do to protect you, I would. The last thing I want is to see you get hurt." He paused to take a sip of his coffee. "Besides, you're pretty decent company."

Letting his words sink in, Juvia took a reluctant step forward towards the seat across from him. Eventually, she sat down ready to order her tea.

"There is something important that Gray-san needs to know," Juvia started as the waitress waved at her through the window, indicating that her usual would be prepared. She turned back to the conversation at hand, fidgeting slightly with her fingers. "Bora-sama has given Juvia the location of the meeting next week."

She tried her hardest not to feel discouraged by the eagerness in his eyes. "You do? Well, where is it?"

"Cedar Town," she told him, peeking at him discreetly.

Gray crossed his arms and stared at the table with great concentration. Only the pitter-patter of the rain filled the air, but it wasn't loud enough to drown out her own thoughts. There was nothing more she could tell him that he wanted. He had no more reason to stay. Juvia had told herself that it was better to find out now than later if he truly was the same as everyone else, but it would still be more than a little difficult to swallow if the second man who called her his friend just up and left.

"Cedar Town," he repeated, more to himself than anyone. "Okay. I'll be there."

A moment of silence passed between the two of them. Gray seemed to be lost I thought, but he hadn't left his spot like she was bracing herself for. Though they'd known each other for only a short time, he had still somehow managed to surpass every expectation she'd had of him since really starting to speak with him. Back then, he'd planted those seeds of doubt in her mind about her relationship with Bora and she had rebuffed him with fury; now she truly felt like Gray's words then were genuine. Just like Gajeel, maybe he really did want what was best for her. Juvia wanted what was best for herself too.

"Gray-san, Juvia has a request," she began with a strong voice.

He nodded, face stoic as ever. "Sure."

Juvia took a deep breath in before she could explain. This was something she simply had to do. "I would like to come with you to meet Bora-sama."

"Huh? Didn't you tell me that he told you not to come?" he asked, scratching his head.

"Bora-sama did tell me that," Juvia said with a little bitterness in her voice, "but I refuse to do it. Juvia should be able to see her boyfriend without asking his permission!"

Gray grinned. "Now you're talking. What made you change your mind?"

Gajeel, she thought. You. Both answers were the truth, but there was one person she owed her strength to more than anyone else: herself. It was only after realizing that she deserved more that Juvia understood her own value. She worked hard to keep their relationship going, worked to keep him happy, and yet he still wasn't. He'd neglected her and went on with him own selfish ambitions. Bora was never going to treat her differently if she didn't demand it. She would demand it. She would ask for more for herself and from herself.

Juvia shook her head and smiled at her friend. "It's not important."

Chapter Text

There was something that had changed about Juvia over the last week; that was something Gray was absolutely sure of. She seemed a little more self-assured and confident in everything she did. The day after she'd told him about the meeting place with Bora, she'd ordered a piece of cake along with her tea, and there was an unusual vigor in her voice when she'd spoken to the waitress. Strangest of all, Juvia had stopped mentioning Bora entirely unless the topic of him came up naturally in conversation. Not that he minded, of course, but abrupt change in her attitude was taking him a bit longer to get used to than he'd expected.

Still, Juvia was far better company than anyone in Fairy Tail right now. As they sat together in the train car, a comfortable silence settled between them. Even outside the café, it appeared that they'd inadvertently replicated the same scenario they created daily. Juvia sipped at her tea while Gray sat across from her with a disposable coffee cup in hand. A light drizzle was covering the window adjacent to them, but the sun remained visible today. He took in the deep smell of his brew and relaxed back into his seat. Peace. Tranquility. Yep, he definitely needed this.

"Is there something wrong, Gray-san?" Juvia asked, drawing his attention away from greenery outside.

He silently wished he could tell her how Elfman, Max, and Cana were all on the same train two cars down. He wished he could tell her about how absolutely chaotic the last week had been ever since he'd returned to guild headquarters bearing the same information Natsu had. He wished he didn't have to sit here and lie to her through his teeth, and yet here he was. Telling himself it would all be over soon was the only way his conscience would allow him to move forward.

Gray drummed his fingers along the smooth wood of the table. "Just tired."

She seemed to sense that he didn't want to talk about it, but her dark eyes remained curiously on him as she drank from her cup again. This one wasn't exactly a lie. Natsu had spent most of the week picking fights with him that he wanted nothing to do with just because Makarov supported him going on this mission.

Honestly, part of Gray knew where Natsu was coming from; after all, it had been he who'd fished that bottle out of the water and he who'd been exchanging letters with Lucy. If Gray had been in position, there was no doubt he'd feel some sort of responsibility to the girl he'd promised to save. Unfortunately, while strong, Natsu was also rash and impatient. When they were a cat pursuing an elusive mouse, the worst thing they could possibly do was scare off the mouse. If Bora was a mouse, then Natsu was a dragon; he'd alert the mouse of his presence when he was still miles away. It was why Erza had to put so much effort into actually subduing him this time. She'd forced him to stay at the guild and watched him like a hawk around the clock. The only thing that seemed to calm him down a little were the now daily letters Yukino had been helping him send to Lucy.

Well, with any luck, Gray would be on his way home tonight with Lucy and a bunch of other girls in tow. He had to focus on the bright side. When he thought about how angry Juvia would be when she discovered the truth, he really hated himself. On the other hand, she would finally be able to see Bora's true colours. Would it be enough to finally open her eyes?

"Hey, what do you plan on doing when you see Bora?" he asked. "Don't you think he's gonna be mad that you came?"

Her sigh was soft but audible. "Yes, perhaps, but...I want to do something that I want for once. Juvia will just have to face the consequences."

"Even if that means being alone?"

To her credit, her resolve didn't seem to waver as she smiled. "Yes. But Juvia will still have the guild to support her."

Gray returned her smile, feeling the weight on his chest lift a little. No matter what he did and what she found out, at least there were people that Juvia could lean on.

He thought about the friends he had that were following him to Cedar Town—out of sight, but definitely not out of mind. They were a big part of the rescue mission, but as time went by, he was more and more grateful that they would be there for whatever fallout there was with Juvia. He told her the other week that he considered her a friend, and somehow he didn't think she was going to return the sentiment anymore once the truth came out.

Until then, he was just going to pretend like he was going on a mission with a teammate.

"Hey," he said after a moment, drawing her attention. "I'm here too, you know."

She blinked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean we're friends, so if you and Bora don't work out, I'll be here for you too," Gray said. She flushed under his gaze and he couldn't help but chuckle. Typical, yet somehow endearing.

"Juvia knows that Gray-san is only here for business. It's okay if Gray-san lied last week..." she replied as she fiddled with the handle of her teacup.

Although she was just a target for his mission, Gray winced at how deeply that implication cut. He rationalized the feeling by remembering that he'd decided to treat her just like another teammate from the guild. Sure, he was lying about a lot of stuff, but the kinship he felt they'd developed was not one of them. He knew it would be better for both them if he just left things the way they were and yet...

"I didn't lie. I wouldn't be on this train with you if I had," he said. "You already gave me the location. I could've ditched you last week."

She stared at him for a second, then started giggling. He frowned, a feeling of insecurity starting to creep in.

"Gray-san is saying a kind thing, but he says it in such a terrible way," she stated.

Gray didn't embarrass easily, but he felt the heat rising to his face regardless. However, he only shrugged in response.

"Don't worry. Juvia is grateful," she told him, an appreciative smile on her face.

He nodded and looked away quickly. For a moment there, the sun had caught her hair and she appeared more resolute than she ever had that he saw a completely different person sitting across from him than the one he'd first seen three weeks ago. Pretty, he thought. Beautiful. Which was why he had to avert his eyes. The last thing he wanted was to get caught staring.

When they arrived in Cedar Town, there were still a couple of hours before the scheduled meet up with Bora. As such, neither of them was in a big hurry to get anywhere as they strolled casually down the street, umbrellas in hand.

"Perhaps we can get some food? If Gray-san is hungry," she suggested to fill the silence between them. It wasn't uncomfortable, per se, but they were in uncharted territory with a significant event oncoming. If anything, they were both feeling nervous about the meeting with Bora.

Gray shook his head. "Not yet." Stopping, he looked around to observe the area around the train station. "Have you been here before? I have no idea where we're going."

"Juvia has been here once before on a mission," she said as she tapped her chin in thought.

"Great. Then you know your way around," he said. "Lead the way."

"W-well, to where?" Juvia asked, blinking.

"I dunno. Anywhere," he replied with a shrug. "Isn't there some place you wanted to go the last time you were here?"

Juvia just stared at him. "There's...a big fountain—"

"Then let's go there."

And so they did. Juvia led him to the biggest market in town with various stalls surrounding a massive stone fountain in the shape of a tree. It didn't spout water like most fountains, but there were well-concealed openings within the carved branches where the liquid would seep out. Water streamed down the various notches on the surface of the tree, sparkling brilliantly in the daylight. With several people sitting on the ledges around the fountain, it took a moment for them to find an unoccupied spot.

"It must be even more beautiful on a sunny day," Juvia murmured as they stood up against the ledge. Gray was unsure whether she was talking to him herself, but there was a note of sadness in her voice. Once again, he was wondering what her issue was with the weather.

"What's wrong with the rain?" he asked, sitting down next to her. He didn't mind that the ledge was a little wet. "It's kind of everywhere you are, isn't it?"

"Then Gray-san has noticed," she replied, a little downtrodden.

He shrugged. "It's hard not to. It almost seems like it's a part of you."

"And that's the problem!" she exploded. Gray stared in amusement as the rain seemed to shake in the air. "It's everywhere Juvia goes! Then she's too gloomy to be around every single time!"

He watched as she leaned over, placing her finger against the surface of the ledge. The water was drawn to her contact like a magnet. Suddenly the makeshift bench was dry and Juvia was casually tossing the gathered droplet in her hand back into the fountain, throwing herself down beside him in a huff. He'd known she was called the Rain Woman, but it was the first time Gray had ever really seen her use magic. It was actually quite fascinating.

"I try so hard..." she said miserably, "but the rain won't stop."

"That's why you make all those teru-teru bōzu, and why you asked me how I felt about the rain," he mused, lowering his umbrella and pulling it shut. Placing his weight on his hands, he closed his eyes and faced the sky, letting the rain fall on his face. "I don't get what's so depressing about this. It's just rain."

"Most people do not agree with Gray-san, unfortunately. And Juvia has already tried everything to stop it."

Gray glanced her deflated posture. "Not everything."

She clutched the handle of her parasol close to her chest as she looked at him quizzically. Paying no attention to her, Gray dug through his pockets until his thumb felt a smooth, circular piece of metal. He pulled the coin out and turned to face the fountain, staring it down.

"What are you doing?" Juvia asked.

"Something you haven't tried," he replied. "We're at a fountain. I might as well make a wish."

Her cheeks reddened. "That's-that's silly, Gray-san!"

"So is sewing dolls to stop the clouds from rolling in, but you don't see me saying anything about that," he pointed out. She quieted after that and he thought carefully about his exact wish. Nodding to himself, he flicked the coin with his thumb close to the base of the tree, sinking down to where all the other stray wishes lay at the bottom.

"Gray-san shouldn't use his wishes on me," Juvia said in a small voice. She couldn't look him in the eye, almost as if she were embarrassed by his actions despite them being so trivial.

Glancing at the watch on his left wrist, he stood up and opened his umbrella once again. They hadn't spent that long here, but they needed some time to grab a bite to eat before they headed to the docks, and that was one meeting Gray was sure he wanted to be early for.

"I didn't wish for your sake," he said, starting towards the food stalls. "I wished for my own."

Ten minutes. They were ten minutes away from nine in the evening when they reached the docks and ten minutes away from something being wrong. Gray felt it in his gut the moment he set eyes on the boats stationed at the dock. None of them looked right. Even in the darkness, the light dampened even further by the rain, he could tell they were all fishing boats.

Gray's steps came to a stop near the edge of the water. It was pitch black out there, probably because no ships were scheduled to come in this late. The rusted nearby lamp wasn't much of a guidepost all by its lonesome.

"Your boyfriend definitely said to meet at nine today, right?" he asked Juvia, but she looked just as bewildered by the abandoned state of the dock as he felt.

"Yes, of course," she answered from beside him. Her head swiveled back and forth in search of the person they both expected. "Juvia wouldn't have come today if Bora-sama hadn't given this date and time. There is still time before nine. Perhaps he just hasn't arrived yet?"

"Let's hope so," Gray said as he sauntered back over to where the lamp was. Eight minutes and counting, but he was starting to feel as impatient as Natsu always was. Where was this guy? He scratched at his flank with his free hand. All these clothes were starting to feel way too heavy.

Glancing around for other signs of life, he wondered where Cana, Elfman, and Max were. It was possible that they'd already spotted Bora and this unusual anxiousness that he was feeling was completely irrelevant. He had to tamp down on his paranoia; he could be negotiating for the life of young girls in a matter of moments. This was no time to be getting into his own head.

A shadow ghosted through the light and Gray whipped his around to search for the moving object. Nothing. There was only stillness leading back to the town, the concrete stairs above the dock completely abandoned. Before he could think about anything else, there was movement to his left—then his right, and then behind him. Deciding he'd had enough of being jerked around, Gray slammed his fist against his palm.

"Ice make," he growled as quietly as he could, but Juvia's guarded stance told him that she was just as aware of the situation as he was. "Prism!"

A perfectly prismatic block of ice formed under the lamp, spreading rainbows across the dock and exposing their predators. Gray scanned their surroundings quickly. Five, ten, fifteen—probably more, but those were the men he could see.

It was a fucking ambush.

He stopped counting when he felt Juvia's boot slide back against his own. If she was surprised by the fact that he could use magic, she didn't show it. It was hardly the time for that anyway. Her boyfriend had set a trap for him, one that Juvia had accidentally gotten caught in, and she was focused on getting them out of it. Did these guys even realize they were up against two mages from a couple of the most powerful guides in Fiore? Well, if they didn't, they were about get a valuable lesson in quality over quantity.

"It's not a good idea to fight us," he warned them as the men began to advance.

Undeterred, they continued and Juvia seemed more frustrated than concerned about their situation. "Where is Bora-sama?" she demanded. The air around them seemed to heat up with her rage.

"He told me to make you forget that you ever knew his name," the man nearest to them replied with a crooked grin, waggling his eyebrows, "although maybe I can make you forget some other way."

Juvia visibly flinched, though more in reaction to the first comment than the second. She couldn't be thinking clearly. This ambush hadn't been set up for her—Bora hadn't even known she was coming. It sounded like Juvia had been so obedient up until this point that her boyfriend never even suspected that she would disobey him. Still, the jackass had been so horrible to her for so long that Gray wasn't surprised that she was considering that Bora had intended for her to be here.

They were surrounded on all sides, but he stepped between her and the first henchman anyway. "Over my dead body."

"Soon enough!" the man said, then charged at Gray, prompting the other men to do so as well.

When the first fist flew at his face, Gray grasped it and twisted his assailant's arm, flinging him into the attacker heading for Juvia. It only took her that extra second to regain her composure as she began to use the rain fully to her advantage. As she blasted the men with jets of water, Gray side-stepped another swipe coming at his head and closed his umbrella before using it as a bat. Too bad the metal rod bent after the first hit.

They started off a little clumsy working back-to-back. Every so often, his foot or elbow would make some sort of contact with her. Not hard, but enough to be a tiny bit distracting. A knife would get disconcertingly close and knick his clothes or a foot would be mere millimeters away from his face. There was ultimately no harm done as they adjusted to each others' patterns. After discarding her own umbrella, it was a little easier to read her fighting style. Her magic could be done completely stationary, but her physical movements were all about flow. There was never a beginning without an end. He ducked when he felt her spin and she unleashed a vicious attack on three of the men who'd been heading for him.

Their teamwork only grew better as the fight progressed. Juvia took out the hoards of people rushing towards them and Gray picked off whatever strays remained with his fists or a good kick. He stayed out of her way as best he could, but on the occasion that a part of him collided with her, she simply phased through him. Honestly, the more he saw of her abilities, the more impressed he was. He'd probably walk away just fine if he were on his own, but since he was trying to maintain some semblance of a cover and therefore was using magic as little as possible, it was really nice having Juvia watch his back.

Gray was in the middle of planting someone's face on the concrete when the light flickered. He took a second to ensure that the guy was unconscious before giving his surroundings a once over. Beneath the streetlight, he saw a couple of the men trying to take down the post. Idiots! If they took out the only source of light, they wouldn't be able to see either.

He flinched when the light flickered again. He and Juvia had moved too far away from it during the scuffle for him to just beat them up before they did anymore damage. Sighing inwardly, Gray summoned his magic. The prism he could've passed off as amateur magic because it was just a stupid shape, but there was no way he was going to be able to explain this away.

"Ice make: prison!" Gray slammed his hands onto the ground and pillars of ice shot up around his intended targets. A very fancy and intricate cage that really didn't fit the environment formed around them. Gray berated himself briefly for including all the extra detail. His bad habits were only going to make his next talk with Juvia harder.

Sensing the racket, his partner looked at the ice prison that was now sitting by the lamp. Yup. She knew what they'd been trying to do. Gray recognized her the change in her expression immediately; that was definitely the one she'd used the first time he'd insulted Bora.

"Juvia has had enough of this!" she announced as she stomped her foot against the ground. She raised an arm and swept it across her body. "Leave us alone!"

Gray watched in awe as he felt the water being pulled off his skin. Water rose from the harbour, the boats creaking and swaying from the disturbance. He looked up to see a massive tidal wave coming down upon them. Juvia did have a tendency to let her emotions get away from her, but this was a bit much. How the heck was he supposed to avoid that thing?

He positioned himself to magic some sort of protection when the water above him shifted oddly. All of his attention was redirected to trying to figure out what had happened before he remembered that the wave was coming down on him. Gray braced his arms in front of his head, ducking down, but felt nothing. Glancing up in confusion, he saw that a perfectly dry circle had formed around him as the shouts of men echoed in the distance while they washed away.

The wave was gone as quickly as it'd come. There was little more than a few puddles on the ground when the rain returned after being robbed from the air. Unfortunately, it was hard to see anything after Juvia's temper had surfaced because the lamp had broken completely under the force of the wave. The cage of ice he'd made earlier was gone too, along with its prisoners. After seeing the absolute destruction Juvia could cause, he really hoped his friends from the guild had been safely out of range when the attack hit. Obviously, they hadn't felt it necessary to come help him beat such low-level dunderheads.

"Gray-san?" Juvia called to him from a short distance away. "Walk towards the town. Juvia will meet you there."

"Alright," he replied as he began heading toward the lights from the town. They needed to regroup anyway and figure out what the hell had just gone down.

It wasn't much later that he was standing under the dim streetlights of Cedar Town, listening to the scrape of her boots against the pavement. She stopped beside him and a sphere of water came floating ahead of him.

"Juvia has some extra baggage," she said, flicking her hand forward as the sphere burst and a man with an eye patch came tumbling out in a coughing fit.

Gray walked up to the man on the ground and lifting him by his shirt. "You'd better have some answers, you piece of shit. Where's your boss?"

He grasped Gray's arm. "H-he ain't—" The man paused to cough, but looked intimidated enough by Juvia's presence to continue. "He ain't here," he croaked.

"And why not?" Juvia demanded.

"There was a guy—a guy g-goin' around to bars last week and beatin' people up, lookin' for the-the boss." The eye patched man squirmed in discomfort, being held with his feet off the ground. "He was crazy! Boss thought he'd show up, but you ain't him!"

Well, clearly Gray was not the guy. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd been in a bar; it wasn't like he was of drinking age yet anyway. That meant Bora hadn't really been plotting to ambush him specifically, but someone else who'd been asking too many questions.

However, this response did not seem to satisfy Juvia. She took a menacing step forward. "Who was this man?"

"I dunno! Some guy with pink hair!"

Pink hair…?

Gray unceremoniously dropped the henchman on the ground with a thud. The man scrambled to his feet and sprinted away without pursuit as Gray edged back slightly. Of course. Of course! Who had the subtlety of a house on fire? Natsu had come barrelling through the front door of the guild, bragging about how he'd found out where Bora would be using his own methods. To think he would do anything other than beat the information out of random people would be giving him too much credit, and in doing so, he'd also ruined this entire mission.

"I…do not understand," Juvia said in a shaky voice. She was staring at the ground as if the puddles would give her answers and Gray put his anger on hold to take a moment and think about why she was confused.

In the end, her reasons were easy to see. If Bora were a coffee importer, then what did it matter if someone was going around town looking for him? Why would someone need to hurt others to find him? And above all else, how in the world did a coffee importer have the kind of power that would allow him to send hoards of men to get rid of the people who were looking for him?

The lost expression on her face clinched it. Even if things hadn't turned out the way he'd expected, it was time for Juvia to figure out who her boyfriend really was. Maybe she'd even help Gray find him. Nobody from Fairy Tail had come out to help him during the fight because they'd known he could handle it, so even with the magic he'd used, his cover was still kind of intact. It was for the mission; not because she needed guidance, he told himself.

"Juvia," he started as he turned to face her, reaching for her hand, "there's something you should know."

Gray gently held her fingers in his own, trying to figure out how to break the news, but she had frozen at his touch. No—no at his touch. Her eyes were wide, but they weren't directed at his face. The line of sight was a bit lower. His neck…? Not quite. His…

…chest?

He lowered his own eyes slowly as a feeling of dread came washing over him like the rain. There was a large slash mark on his shirt across his right pec, probably from one of the knives he'd dodged at the last second near the beginning of the fight. And of course, it was in the perfect spot to expose the guild mark sitting right below his collarbone.

The confusion on her face was now replaced with one of betrayal. Juvia snatched her hand into her chest like he was poisonous, backpedaling was increase the distance between them.

"Juvia, I can ex—"

"You knew who I was," she said, her voice almost a whisper. Gray was straining to hear every terrible word that might come out of her mouth without getting any closer. "You knew."

He swallowed. She wasn't wrong. "Yeah, I knew."

Juvia was quiet for a long while after that, hugging herself as she stared into the pavement. The rain poured down harder and hit like needles on his skin. He held steady even with the chill in his bones, refusing to move from his position. The cold didn't bother him, but this… this was the moment of his nightmares. He would not be a coward and run from it. There was already so much crap in life he'd run away from.

"They always…want something," she said suddenly. "I hope…you got what you wanted, Gray-san."

Gray shook his head, but he wasn't denying what she was saying. Intent mattered and he hoped it would matter to her too. "I'm just trying to find someone who needs my help. It was never about taking anything from you."

Her eyes were empty and he wasn't even sure she'd heard what he said as she swayed to the side a little. "You know… Gray-san… was the first person who ever said he liked the rain."

She looked so small and vulnerable that he hadn't expected it when the water came rushing at him. It slammed into his chest, knocking the wind out of him. Everything happened so fast that there was no time to react. Mage or not, he was useless the moment he'd let his guard down.

A sharp pain radiated through his back as it crashed into something solid and hard, his head whipping back with a similar pain only a millisecond later. Gray stared forward into the night, vision out of focus and blurred, but he could make out Juvia's face. Finally, she met his eyes and he could see the droplets streaking down her face. As his eyes closed, he wondered if that was the rain or her tears.

Chapter Text

Thank you for asking about me. Even just telling you something silly like how old I am or the colour of my hair makes it feel like I'm talking to a friend. Please keep talking to me. Are you really part of Fairy Tail?

L.

Yes. And you are a friend.

Hang on. We'll get you home soon.

N.

I appreciate everything you're doing for me, but… please don't make me go home. It's not a good place, and my father is not a kind man. Please. After everything, I can't even think about it.

I won't bring you anywhere that hurts you. I'll help you go wherever you wanna go. Promise.

We're on our way.

N.

It had been a few days since Lucy had gotten that message. Her heart had swelled with hope, but then a day passed with no change in her daily schedule. Then another day passed without a hitch. The third day, they'd docked, but that had been uneventful as well. She had all but given up ever hearing from back from Natsu and Yukino when the next message finally came and broke her heart all over again.

There had been silence because they thought they'd found her, and then the silence resumed because they hadn't. Natsu's words seemed remorseful, but Lucy couldn't quite discern why in the short letter that had been penned. Whatever the reason, Natsu was beating herself up over this.

Next time, she'd written, I'm going to get it right.

Ever since then, the letters had mostly been focused on their personal questions. Of course Lucy was going to wonder why. Was Natsu giving up on finding her? Were these little messages the only contact she would ever have with the outside world again? It was impossible not to ask—albeit in the most delicate way she could. The answer had Lucy racking her brain for any way to help them help her.

It would forever be ironic to her that the very person who would fish that bottle out of the ocean was a member of Fairy Tail, especially after the one who'd kidnapped her had impersonated someone from that very guild. That was why when the words on the page told her there was a witch in Fairy Tail who could potentially track her, there was no helping the strange feeling that went through her body. She'd idolized Mirajane back when she actually had access to magazines, and then this happened to her. It was a guild she'd aspired to join for a long time. All these coincidences had her wondering if any of this was even real.

Unfortunately, another letter had told her that Natsu's guildmate needed something that had a strong enough magic signal that she could hone in on to get a location. The best Lucy had was her key, and the only time that would ever help emit a substantial signal was when she was using it. Obviously, that wasn't feasible in any way so she went to Kagura for help.

The fact that neither of them had had any ideas at the time made Kagura's current absence all the more concerning. There was no doubt all of them wanted off this ship, but Kagura seemed even more driven than herself. Their lack of ideas had driven the other mage into a silent rumination before she was whisked off on her shift to entertain Bora. While that was expected, she hadn't returned since then. The tiny window in their room was enough for Lucy to be sure that Kagura had been gone for at least a full day, and that was not good.

Any number of things could've gone wrong. Lucy blamed herself for asking about the message. It was entirely possible Kagura had done something stupid trying to secure whatever magical item was lying around and had gotten punished because of it. Maybe she had been locked in the Closet.

Worried, Lucy did the only thing she could do and began pounding on the door of their room. The idea that something bad had happened to Kagura was simply something she couldn't deal with. Even the fleeting hope she received from her distant companions was better than nothing. If she could just check to see if there was a new message—one that could change everything—things could turn around in a second.

It took two minutes of annoying the henchman guarding their door to convince him to bring her to the washroom. By the time the door to the toilet was closed behind her, she was practically fumbling for her key like a drunken monkey.

She held the key with an outstretched arm as she always did and was just about to recite the summoning incantation when the boat hit a rough patch of sea. Stumbling, Lucy steadied herself against the wall. A series of waves prevented her from even trying to stand upright again. She gritted her teeth. It was basically always smooth sailing on this hell hole. Why did the ship suddenly have to act up today?

As soon as the water seemed to calm, she took her chance to open the gate. She nearly faceplanted into the wall as Plue came tumbling out of the portal.

"P-pu-PUU-"

Lucy was bracing herself against the tank of the toilet as she watched the dog spirit very unfortunately bouncing off the walls and rolling across the floor with no way to stop. "Sorry, Plue! I don't know why it's so rough today. Do you have a new letter for me?"

He waved his arm a little as his face actually did smack into the wall, making a tiny dent where his nose had impacted. "Puun!"

She saw the pen in his hand and waited until Plue rolled within her reach to grab him. "I'm sorry! I'll be quick! I promise!"

It was ridiculously difficult to try and balance on the ship while holding her spirit and trying to open the message. She unfurled the sheet while balanced one on foot, but it was enough time to see what was in the letter. Then the room turned sideways and everything in her grasp came flying out of her hands.

When the rocking stopped, she was on her hands and knees with Plue dizzy in the corner. She barely had enough sense to grab her key which had fallen out of her hands in the chaos. The pen and letter were both scattered on the floor as well, the words which were weighing heavily on her mind.

Banging on the door snapped Lucy out of her daze. "Hurry it up! I will open this door in the next ten seconds if you don't get out here!"

Panic was the accurate word to describe her emotional state. Her mind briefly wandered to the fact that she hadn't even read the new letter yet. Another second passed while she was contemplating how in the world she could write back. And then, of course, she spent another useless moment considering how neither of those were helpful to her right now.

There was a sudden clicking at the door as the guard clearly began to follow through on his words. Though still a little shaky, Plue had recovered enough to get up on his own and had made his way over to pick up the pen. With so little time, Lucy would not take the chance of him being discovered. She hurriedly dismissed her spirit without saying goodbye and practically flung herself at the small piece of parchment that was on the floor when she realized it was still there. The crumpled message was barely been tucked into her waistband when the door swung open, her aggravated escort storming in.

His gaze lowered onto her disheveled form on the ground. Lucy shrunk into herself nervously. Rolling his eyes, the man hefted her to her feet roughly and shoved her out the door.

However, after several seconds, it became clear that they weren't returning to her room and anxiety began to weigh heavily on her. Instead, they were headed in the opposite direction, toward Bora's lounge and Elsie's dressing room.

"W-where—it's..." Lucy stuttered out, trying to ask a dozen questions.

"Quiet. Don't make a fuss," Bora's henchman said as he shoved her forward again. They continued in silence until they stood in front of the dressing room where a few other girls were already exiting in sensual dresses. "Elsie, got your next one."

"Ooh, good!" Elsie exclaimed, head popping into view. As usual, her face was more coated than a clown's. She had gone with a green theme to the point where she looked sickly. Lucy cringed as the woman scurried over to drag her into the room. "Lucy, Lucy, Lucy... Bora-sama hasn't held one of these in quite a while, but I think you're going to be a best seller. I just have to, hm..."

Elsie left her and her thoughts in the middle of the room to go examine the dresses she had hung up by the wall. What did she mean by "best seller?" While her mind was in a whirlwind from everything that had happened in the last 24 hours, Lucy was drawing a complete blank on this.

Before she could contemplate her situation any further, Elsie was basically tearing the clothes off Lucy's body and stuffing her into a dress that clearly didn't fit her bust. Lucy had to discreetly pull Nikora into her enclosed fist before the woman took off her shorts, but the message she also had stored there was much less substantive and it was only when the parchment fell to the floor that she noticed it. Fortunately, her stylist, busy tugging at Lucy's hair, did not. Though her mind stayed firmly on retrieving it, Lucy avoided looking in that direction to keep Elsie's eyes from following. She only needed a second, an opportune moment, to pick it up. Maybe she could knock something over and use that as an excuse to get down there. Or she could—

"There! You're all done!" The woman stepped back and took a drag from the cigarette she'd set aside a minute ago, looking her handiwork up and down. "Hm, but it's missing something..."

Her eyes landed on the gleam of gold that was within Lucy's hand. Lucy willed herself not to pull away, lest she look suspicious, and allowed Elsie to guide her hand forward.

The putrid-looking woman picked the key up, examining it carefully. "You really like this one, hm? I'm not even sure when I got it, but it'll look good with the red, so we can use it." And much to Lucy's relief, Elsie got to work and pulled Lucy's hair into a high ponytail. The key was placed by the tie along with another golden accessory, though this one was a pin with a strand of crystals which hung down.

Lucy thought she was done after that, but no sooner than the thought entered her head, she was sat down in a chair near the dresser that held the accessories. There was a clattering of plastic as Elsie sifted through the compacts on the surface, and then she was hunched over Lucy's face with a (probably unsanitary) brush in hand. Makeup was a step further than the usual dolling up. What in the world was going on?

"Okay, good. Very pretty. Now go go go," Elsie said dismissively, shooing her subject with one hand. "Hurry up. I've got quite a few more girls to work on."

As Lucy exited the room into the care of the same guard from earlier, Fumiko and Arisa were on their way in. The whole thing was bewildering. They never put more than two girls from the same room on shift to entertain Bora, and that was the only time they ever got dressed up. Today's "dressing up" was closer to the actual definition of the term as well. Why wasn't Elsie putting them all in scraps of fabric like she normally did?

The theme of the day continued as she was led to a part of the ship she couldn't recall ever being in before. The floors were creaky and wooden like the rest of Bora's ship, but the colours were far more faded and scratched from frequent wear beneath the boots of his henchmen. At the end of the hall was a door with a thick latch, like there was something important on the other side. Outside was her first assumption, but she simply couldn't believe that would be the case for any reason whatsoever. It was only when she was down the hall, through the locked door, and feeling fresh air on her face for the first time in months that she let herself believe it.

A gentle breeze tickled her face and the night was warm and clear, but there was no time to enjoy either of these things. The henchman led her by the arm down the ramp in front of them, guiding her into a lineup of women standing shoulder to shoulder. Lucy's eyes drifted to the other side of the line where she saw Kagura for the first time since at least a full day ago. She wanted desperately to say something, but she was just too far away and too closely watched. Kagura's eyes flicked over briefly as well; however, she directed her attention forward again before any sort of message could be conveyed.

Lucy could do little more than wait as more girls were lined up next to her, all made up as she was. They were heavily guarded, making it all the more obvious that something big was about to go down. The boat was docked. She was on solid land. If there were ever a time to escape, now would be it, but it would be nigh impossible given the amount of security present.

The sound of tires squealing caught her attention as she looked up to see half a dozen identical magic-powered vehicles approaching. They came to a stop a few meters away and men in suits exited the vehicles. The driver of the third vehicle went to open the door for someone else and in that moment, it became abundantly clear to Lucy that whatever was happening right now would not bode well for her or any of the other girls. This other man who seemed to be in charge of the group was definitely no better of a man than Bora was.

He was something of a high roller for sure. In addition to the multiple bodyguards and cars, Lucy recognized his suit to be from the same line of cashmere ones her father was so fond of wearing. He stroked the side of his well-maintained mustache as he approached their group, his guards surrounding him.

At the same time, Bora came down the ramp looking as confident as ever. The two men converged in front of the line of young women and shook hands.

"Glad you could make it out today, Utahiroba." Bora stepped back and gestured grandly at the girls. "As discussed, I have only my best out here. You're sure to find what you want."

"Of that I have no doubt," Utahiroba replied as he sauntered over to the left side of the line where Kagura was standing, his hands clasped behind his back. "But what will you do when I take one of these beauties off your hands?"

It hit her like a ton of bricks. Suddenly, despite being used to the scraps of clothing Elsie put them in, Lucy felt far too exposed. They were a display, standing in line like a row of dolls in a toy store, waiting for the next customer to take one from the group. Except...that was far too innocent of an image compared to what was really going on. They were objects to be sold. They were Bora's next payday.

"Replace her, of course. Keeping them to myself is nice, but it's business. My brand won't disappoint."

Utahiroba's eyes swept over her and she felt like she was going to be sick. If he took her, would it really matter? She would be part of the brand forever. Bora would follow her wherever she went. He was burned into her flesh, skin, and mind. There was nothing she could do about any of this, and a life with Utahiroba...what would that really change? Lucy had run from a prison and walked right into the next one. One more couldn't possibly make much of a difference.

She watched from her periphery as the customer stroked Kagura's chin with a hand. A nauseating smile crawled up his lips and somehow, Kagura didn't even flinch. Utahiroba pulled away to examine the next girl, but only after a lingering glance at his previous object.

He made his way down the line as Lucy struggled to suppress her emotions. How silly of her to ever confuse comprehension with acceptance. Somewhere along the way, part of her had really thought that things couldn't get any worse. And maybe it wouldn't. Maybe this rich criminal would decide that a girl other than her would suit his tastes, but then it would be that girl suffering and the cycle would go on once Bora decided he needed another sale.

When Utahiroba finally reached her, he looked her up and down like every strange man she'd ever met. She tried not to look disgusted when he tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. He didn't leave it there, however, and his thumb dragged down the edge of her ear. Everything inside of her was screaming that she should bolt for anywhere, but she held still. Discovering that things could get worse meant that she was going to try as hard as possible to keep things from getting there. If she and Kagura could just get through this, maybe they would truly find a way to be free.

"This one's very pretty," Utahiroba commented as he stepped back and crossed his arms, nodding his head, "but with such a selection, it's hard to choose."

Lucy let out a quiet sigh of relief and tried to calm the anxiety bubbling up inside her. She watched him go from girl to girl, evaluating each one carefully. A couple of them shied away and were promptly shoved back in place by Bora's henchmen while others, like Fumiko, stood like stones through the process. Something inside those girls had just shut off so that they could go on living and knowing that only made Lucy selfishly fear more for herself.

One of the younger girls, probably only fifteen, let out a shriek when Utahiroba laid a hand on her bare shoulder. She stumbled backwards until she hit one of the guards and crumpled to the ground, holding herself like his touch was poison. Annoyed, Utahiroba disregarded the remaining two females standing at Lucy's far right. Instead, he stalked back to where Lucy was standing and shot Bora a glare.

"You'd best remember to keep them in line or you won't be getting many sales," he said, his mustache twitching in displeasure. As Bora went to go reprimand his product, Utahiroba moved back towards the right end until he was face to face with Lucy once more. His eyes raked down her body, making her skin crawl. "But you... You make it very hard for a man to decide."

She was nudged forward by one of Bora's henchmen and she took a hesitant step, singling herself out. Utahiroba clasped his hands behind his back, his shoes thumping against the boards of the dock as he circled her. The nausea in her belly could not be quelled, but she carried herself with strength anyway. Pretending at home had been all the preparation she needed for this.

"Curves in all the right places, such soft features and pretty blonde hair." The man paused in his examination and locked eyes with her. "And those big brown eyes? Beautiful."

He backed away from her, nodding his head toward Bora. One of his men went to the car and retrieved a black briefcase, the contents of which were displayed to her kidnapper moments later. There was money, no doubt, and she was the price.

What would it change? Lucy asked herself again to stop her hands from shaking. It was just...a new prison...

"Beautiful, but full of fear. I can't have that."

Her head jerked in Utahiroba's direction as he perused the line again. This time, however, he knew exactly what he was looking for.

"You're not blonde, but you're just as beautiful," he told Kagura as he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the line. "The difference is those unyielding eyes of yours, so unafraid and so determined. You won't let anything stop you, will you?"

Lucy looked on in shock. "No..."

"Congratulations, Bora. You've just made your first sale."

"No!"

And then she was screaming. She screamed as they ushered her stoic friend into one of the cars, Kagura shooting her one last meaningful glance. She screamed as Bora's henchmen held her flailing arms in her attempt to follow. She screamed as the cars drove away into the distance and they wrenched her back aboard the ship. She screamed as they threw her in the closet, the darkness and solitude swallowing the sound of her voice. She screamed until her throat was raw and her voice was gone. She screamed out in silence until they turned into sobs.

Her only ally on this ship was gone, maybe to an even worse place. The words from Natsu she'd almost forgotten about, but they were gone too, somewhere on the floor of Elsie's dressing room. And Plue... Plue could not help her. After that episode, she wouldn't have enough energy to summon him for days. Every pillar she was holding onto had collapsed within a few hours. She should've known. She shouldn't have hoped.

She couldn't change what fate had taught her: Lucy Heartfilia always ends up alone.

Chapter Text

To say he was angry was an understatement. He had the right to go to Cedar Town, having found the location of the docking on his own, but no matter what he did, Erza stood in his way. Natsu had fought her. And lost, both verbally and physically. As much as he hated to admit it, she was too strong.

He nursed his black eye at the table in the library as yukino sat nearby reading books for her last lesson with Mira. She had kindly offered earlier to allow him to write another letter to Lucy, but what could he say? He wasn't on his way to save her; instead he had to stay here and rely on Gray to do that. That thought that he couldn't do anything himself drove him crazy.

"Gray-sama will succeed, Natsu-sama," Yukino said as she looked up from her book. "He's very strong and reliable. Don't worry."

Her reassurance was not comforting, though he appreciated it. Sitting and waiting definitely weren't on his list of skills, but he was doing his best. Natsu folded his arms beneath him and lay his head down. He'd barely settled when Macao burst into the room, eyes wild with panic.

"Outside! Outside now!" he shouted, then ran back the way he came.

Natsu exchanged a glance with Yukino before the two bolted upright and headed for the door. He looked down upon the landing and saw several of his guildmates flooding towards the guild entrance. Following the crowd, what he saw was nothing he could've expected.

Pinned to the tree out front were Levy, Jet, and Droy. All three of them looked like they had sustained serious injuries as they hung unconsciously from their shackles on the tree. Just below them, there were words carved into the bark of the trunk with the outline of a skull next to them.

"NOSY FAIRIES GET THEIR WINGS CLIPPED"

The mood had been sombre since Team Shadow Gear had been found on the tree out front. Natsu had lost his focus entirely, alternating between fretting over what had happened on Gray's end and feeling all-consuming anger over the attack on his friends. He was not the only one who felt immediately compelled to retaliate against the offending party—Elfman had eagerly agreed with that sentiment and so had Laxus, which was a big deal considering the leader's grandson rarely so riled up on behalf of the guild-but while they were basically jumping out of their seats to attack, Makarov remained stern and logical.

"But we know who it is!" Laxus argued as the more experienced mages of Fairy Tail sat in the library around the conference table. He was out of his seat, looking like he wanted to lunge over the table and punch some sense into his own grandfather. "I don't see why we're just sitting on our asses! They're the ones who declared war on us!"

Makarov trained a particularly heated glare upon his own kin. "Quit letting the blood rush to your head. I'm as angry as you are, but we don't just go around starting fights with other guilds. If this was an incident by one rogue member of Phantom Lord, I'd be the one responsible for starting a war."

"From the consistency of the injuries, it looks like the work of a single person," Mira said from beside their Master. She held herself, glancing miserably down at the table. "Whoever attacked them was incredibly strong and cruel."

"They were sending a message," Erza replied, her voice even in contrast to her clenched fist shaking on the table. "It was laid out for us clear as day. Levy got caught up in Phantom Lord's business and they didn't like whatever it was."

Natsu's brain promptly reeled from that information. He'd been out and about on his own for the last week, but before that, he'd been helping Levy with her research when she'd had that revelation about Lucy's last name being Heartfilia. Ever since he'd been forced back into keeping a low profile, he saw Levy borderline obsessed with figuring out how to get in touch with the company head. He hadn't seen her for a couple of days prior, but now it appeared that she'd gone into the field with her search along with Jet and Droy.

"Levy was looking into the Heartfilia family," he said as eyes around the room were drawn to him. "I dunno what that has to do with..."

He paused, eyes widening briefly before they settled into a glare at nobody in particular. At first, he hadn't been able to see any connection, but now it was there right in front of him. While Fairy Tail was generally friendly towards other guilds, Phantom Lord had never been particularly amicable in return. The only thing Natsu had even known about them before he found that bottled letter was their name and location of their headquarters. Only Makarov had had any contact with them before that because of council meetings, but there hadn't been one of those in a while. That left only one person in the guild that had a connection to Phantom Lord.

"Natsu-sama, please don't."

The dragon slayer glanced down at the small hand curled into his, barely feeling her soft skin against his own calloused palm. Yukino's brow was furrowed as she stepped closer to him.

"I know what you're thinking. It's wrong. I know it is," she told him. He wanted to demand how she could possibly know, but he was too angry to even get the words out. "Please, don't do anything."

Natsu could not answer her pleas when there was nothing else that made sense. If he'd been the one to go on this mission, maybe this wouldn't have happened—there wouldn't have been a slip up or whatever led to this. How could he not do anything? Three of his friends had been badly injured and were lying in the infirmary right now. Someone had to pay.

However, before he could react, Cana peeked in through the door. "Oh, there you all are. Mira, we need some help with Gray."

Gray. The name struck him like spurs and Natsu headed for the door, ignoring Yukino's calls after him. He shoved past a disgruntled Cana and descended the stairs into the foyer where both Max and Elfman were loosely supporting the ice mage. Storming towards the other man, he had every intention of accepting all the consequence that came with fault until he heard Cana screaming at him from above. He paused to look at her.

"He has a concussion, you idiot! Now isn't the time for petty fighting!" she yelled, leaning over the railing.

Before he could respond, a sharp pain cracked across his face and sent him hurtling into one of the tables. At first, the only thing Natsu registered was how much his cheek throbbed; it'd been a while since anyone had hit him that hard. He sat up slowly as his vision readjusted, inadvertently splintering a stray plank of wood that was underneath him. Gray was standing a few strides away with his fist still outstretched, evidently having wrestled himself away from his stewards. His eyes were darting around frantically like he couldn't quite focus.

"You stupid bastard!" Gray shouted, looking almost crazed. He was already moving forward again to where Natsu was on the floor.

Natsu slowly pulled himself onto his knees using a broken chair as a crutch. His hand closed tightly around the top of the frame, glowering at his fast-approaching guildmate as he flung the piece of furniture. It had the desired effect, Gray shielding himself before it hit and allowing Natsu to throw himself at the other man with a roar.

There wasn't any strategy to any of this. He just wanted to beat the shit out of Gray. Everything was his fault! He was the reason Natsu couldn't do anything to help Lucy and he was the reason their friends got hurt. The one clean punch to Gray's face he got before the ice mage brought his arms up for protection wasn't satisfying enough.

It wasn't so much a fight as it was a wrestling match. Eventually, Gray caught his wrist in one hand and punched Natsu so hard that for a moment, there was only darkness. The next instant, he found himself against a table with Gray holding him there by the vest. He moved his head out of instinct, barely avoiding the fist that crashed through the table.

Natsu rolled to the side and slipped out of his vest as he steadied himself. The room felt a bit like it was tilting, but he'd fought through worse. His body was burning and the metallic taste in his mouth only spurred him on. He wiped the liquid from his mouth with the back of his wrist as Gray turned to charge him again.

There was fire at his fingertips as he prepared to absorb the blow when Erza grabbed onto Gray's arm. Her presence always meant the fight was over, but Natsu was nowhere near done with it. However, it was Gray who surprised everyone—Erza included—by shoving his senior aside and barreling straight into Natsu's gut.

He felt the wind knocked out of him for a second. More kitchen furniture snapped beneath him before Natsu found his breath and swung back. The gratifying feeling of knuckles meeting bone only lasted until he got knocked in the face again. He put more force into his next blow and the one he received in return seemed to hurt just as much. That was as dedicated as it got. Get hit, hit harder, and try to knock the other guy out. He wouldn't lose. Everything was Gray's fault. He was going to pay. He was going to p—

Natsu was thrown off when his next wild swing met only air and he was tumbling over from the momentum of his own punch. His vision blurred as he stared at the boards of the floor, beads of red dripping down to join old beer stains on the floor. It was a mesmerizing sight for a brief moment before he remembered what he was supposed to be doing. Natsu turned over a little clumsily to return to battle. His eyes focused on the split image of Gray and he wondered which one he should attack.

"This is ridiculous," Erza said from where she was standing over Gray, having dragged him back. The man appeared to be trying to stand but was failing miserably.

"He... He's gonna get what's comin' to 'im," the Grays replied, words slurring. Their eyes were half-lidded as they swiped at the ground for some sort of leverage.

There was a fogginess in Natsu's brain that he ignored as he rose to one knee with great effort. As long as he could stand, he could still fight. "I'm gonna...kick your ass."

"No you won't!" a cheerful voice assured him before Mirajane leaned over into his sightline with a smile. She tapped him on the forehead. "Go to sleep."

And just like that, he did.

Natsu learned a long time ago not to question it every time he woke up in the infirmary. He skipped right past the confusion and tried to remember how he had ended up here in the first place. There'd been...a lot of punching, or so he thought. The details were a little fuzzy.

He sat up, wincing. His head was throbbing and his jaw felt sore, but staying in bed wasn't something he did. Turning to get up, he found his rival lying in the adjacent bed and everything came rushing back to him in an instant.

"Calm your tits."

Cana was leaning against the wall on the far end of the room, a bottle of beer in hand. Having been more occupied with his memories and Gray, Natsu hadn't noticed her there at all. Light was flooding in through the window beside her, refracting off the empty bottles sitting on the sill. Their presence suggested that she'd been for at least a while.

"Porlyusica said you'd probably wake up soon, so I figured I'd stick around so you wouldn't go apeshit when you woke up," she explained before she took another swig of beer. As she swallowed, she made a refreshed sigh. "Boredom drinking is the best."

He pulled off his covers, ready to get up. "Whatever..."

"Ah, ah, ah!" She jumped in front of his bed with a frown, waggling her finger. "You aren't going anywhere. You need to rest and you need to listen to what I'm about to tell you."

Natsu shrugged, glaring. "It's not like I can beat Gray up while he's unconscious anyway."

She scoffed. "Oh, is that what you were trying to do earlier? You two looked like kids in an after-school brawl. Not a speck of magic, but you still managed to do a number on each other," Cana replied. She downed the rest of her beer and casually walked over to place it on the ledge with the other bottles. "We heard what happened on the way back, so before you jump to anymore conclusions, we need to set something else straight. Our mission to save Lucy failed."

The words rang loudly in his ears, nearly having forgotten that was what Gray was supposed to be doing yesterday. Lucy was a part of this whole thing too and he felt incredibly guilty that he'd allowed himself to put her plight out of mind. Of course, that didn't compare to hearing that the help he'd promised her had been no help at all.

"And," Cana continued pointedly, "like I said, you're not going apeshit on me. Listen carefully. Our mission failed because of you."

He looked at her quizzically. "Huh? Me?"

"That's right, and you would've known that if you'd just sat still long enough for the briefing," she explained tersely. "Gray walked into an ambush that was set up because you basically went and screamed Bora's name all around town."

...Wait, what?

"And you know what else? Because of that ambush, Gray's cover got blown, so congratulations on fucking up our only connection to Bora."

...What?

"You brought this mission to the guild, but all you've been doing ever since then is bitch and moan about how you don't get to do anything. We have no more leads to go on, so I guess you got what you wanted. Go rescue that girl yourself."

Cana strode across the room to the door and let it slam behind her. It was quiet, but what surrounded him was not silence at all. Her voice washed over his mind again and again like a broken record. The mission failed because of you. It was a set up because you—you got what you wanted.

Go rescue that girl yourself.

And that was it. Natsu had known from the beginning that he didn't have the resources or knowledge to find someone he'd only known through handwriting, and that was why he'd brought that letter to his guild. However, when it came down to it, he'd been the most useless one of all.

Yukino had been the one to figure out how to get in contact with Lucy and she was the only one who could. Levy had discovered Bora's connection to Juvia and realized Lucy's relation to the Heartfilia family. Gray had been the one to build a solid enough relationship with Juvia that she got in touch with her boyfriend for him. He couldn't have pulled off any of that, loathe as he was to admit that about Gray's part in this.

It was just...he was the one who'd found the letter. Why couldn't he do anything for her?

A small groan came from his left and Natsu glanced over to see Gray placing a hand on his head, though his eyes were still shut. The two of them had been rivals ever since they were children and never quite saw eye to eye. Their approach to missions were as similar as their respective elemental affinities. Gray liked things done quietly and cleanly, even if things took a little longer. Natsu had no such patience; he just walked straight up to the problem and punched it in the face, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. People generally frowned upon that, but he ignored them because it always worked. It had never occurred to him to expect a different outcome.

Losing...was not something he was afraid of, at least if it only affected himself. Because of his carelessness, Lucy's life was still on the line. He'd been selfish and arrogant. If Igneel were around, he would've kicked Natsu in his already throbbing head.

"Ugh..." The ice mage rolled over, blinking like it was a lot of effort. "Why'd they put me next to you?"

Natsu said nothing at the spiteful tone. He couldn't defend himself when he deserved all the blame he'd been putting on Gray. Thinking he hadn't been doing anything, believing he'd sold out Levy and the others... Yeah, he was an idiot. When Gray had been the one to attack him first, there'd been a touch of confusion, but the eagerness to fight overrode it. His anger all made sense now.

"I screwed up," Natsu said, his voice quiet and a little hoarse.

"Yeah, you did." Gray covered his eyes with an arm.

He swallowed. "Cana told me."

"Good."

A silence as heavy as the feeling in his chest filled the room. He could leave the room altogether, but that was a coward's way out. He knew he should apologize for making a mess of things, but saying something like that to Gray didn't feel right. Instead, he let the awkward silence drag on as he struggled to figure out what to say next.

"Remember that time Erza made us go on that mission together? The one with the counterfeit jewels?" Gray asked abruptly.

Oh yes he did. That one really brought him back. Two years had passed since the mission in question, but it was one that Natsu remembered well. While some people in the guild liked to team up for their missions, that was neither Gray or Natsu's style. Happy always came with him, but that was different because they were basically one person. That time in particular, Erza had deemed it necessary that they work together to complete the mission properly. Gray's ability to replicate any object was to be used to copy the key to the counterfeiters' main vault which they could hand off to Erza while they tracked the criminals. Their other job was to follow the counterfeiters to the place they were actually making the money, find the plates they were using, and melt them into useless scrap metal. That, of course, was Natsu's expertise. It all made perfect sense on paper until you put the two of them together. Needless to say, the mission had gone on with a lot of reluctance.

"Erza almost killed us, but we got it done," Natsu replied with a brief nod.

"We got it done," he agreed, "but the whole thing was a disaster."

Natsu snickered. "You put ice down my shirt when we went to find the vault key."

"'Cause you're an asshole."

"So are you, bastard."

Gray was grinning as he sat up, leaning an arm against his leg. "At least I didn't puke all over myself."

Scowling, Natsu recalled the events which occurred after they'd found the vault key. Gray left a copy of the key for Erza, along with few unconscious bodies that weren't part of the plan (which they later got a massive ass-whooping for), and they tailed the leader of the operation. As it had turned out, the group had run things out of a train car for both convenience and discretion. It'd also resulted in Natsu never even leaving his seat on the train.

"I should've aimed for you," Natsu retorted humourlessly.

"You were so sick, you couldn't even stand up." There was no amusement on Gray's anymore, staring at the dragon slayer pointedly. "I tried to wait for you, but you just kept throwing up, so even you thought it was a better idea for me to go alone at one point."

He closed his eyes for a moment, understanding what Gray was trying to say. No matter how much he and Gray butted heads, they always respected each other enough to trust that the other one would do the job right. They were both powerful and capable mages (though he would never admit that to Gray out loud)—there was no reason for either of them to fail at whatever mission they had at the time, but at some point, his need to feel useful for the girl that had asked for his help had overtaken the trust that he had in his guild mate. He felt all sorts of idiotic at that revelation. That was the unspoken rule in Fairy Tail: you could trust any one of your guild members with your life because they were your family.

"I remember," Natsu replied. "You got the plates and dragged me off the train before anyone noticed."

The other man snorted. "Yeah. If you were functional, you probably would've blown up half the train."

Ten minutes ago, he probably would've had a nasty response to that quip, but right now, Natsu felt resigned to his own mistakes. "Guess it's a good thing it was you, then."

Gray didn't capitalize on the comment either. Instead, the room filled with silence again, unspoken words hanging heavily in the air. Natsu rubbed at his temples in an attempt to calm his throbbing head. He didn't know how to help Lucy anymore. He didn't know if he'd messed up all the chances he had to make things right for her. In the end, all he could do was write a stupid letter—one that he couldn't even send to her himself.

"I don't know if I'll ever get her to trust me again." Gray's voice cut into his thoughts and Natsu glanced over to see that the ice mage had returned to lying on his back, hands behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. There was no need for him to specify the person he was talking about.

Natsu mimicked Gray's position, glaring at the ceiling. "Does it matter? They attacked our friends," he said, feeling slightly heated again.

"I know that," Gray replied in annoyance, but his tone softened as he continued. "It's just...she's not a bad person."

"I don't think most people are."

He closed his eyes, wondering briefly about what kind of person Juvia was that she had earned this level of acknowledgement from Gray. Under no circumstance had Natsu ever expected to be lying down, talking to his long-time friend and rival about girls. This was about as close to sentimental that they were ever going to get.

"Why do you care so much anyway?" Natsu asked as he glanced over at the other bed. No anger or accusations. He simply wanted to know.

"Because she's not a bad person. She's good," Gray said, clutching the sheets so hard that his knuckles were turning white. "She tries hard for someone who doesn't give a shit about her and doesn't even expect anything in return. That's someone who's too good."

And then he understood. Gray had gotten in too deep the same way Natsu had. There had to be at least some level of concern for a mage to have when working a mission, otherwise it would result in complete and utter failure. Sometimes Natsu cared a little more than others, but this time, he was in too deep. After only a few weeks, Gray was just as far gone. All thoughts that Gray's progress with Juvia had been at a standstill were completely banished. If anything, his relationship with the Phantom Lord girl had been speeding up the process of finding Lucy.

"What about you then?" Gray asked suddenly, catching Natsu off-guard. "You're the one who brought us this mess in the first place. Why do you care about a girl you've never even seen before?"

He stared for a second, dumbfounded. Blinking, his mind started turning onto subjects it hadn't gone to before. The obvious answer was that it was because she was a person who needed his help, but at this point, it went beyond that. Natsu's need to come to her rescue had worsened with every message exchanged between them. Right now, she didn't feel like a stranger anymore; she felt like another friend.

"She's blonde," he said firmly.

"What?"

"I haven't seen her before, but she's blonde," Natsu replied, "and her eyes are brown. She told me so."

"…Uh huh…?"

"And I don't know her, but I know that she needs our help," he continued as he spun himself over the side of the bed. Despite the raging headache, Natsu suddenly wanted to run to every dock in Fiore to check for Lucy. This time, however, the lesson had been learned and it was time he started exercising a bit more impulse control. He slumped over to support his arms on his knees instead. "She…" He remembered her keys clanking against the bottom of the bottle. He remembered the first overjoyed message he ever received from her in return. "…she cares about her friends more than anything. She's afraid, but she's fighting because she has to. And she saves her energy everyday just so she can talk to me.

"She's…lonely," Natsu concluded, his voice carrying in the silence of the room. "Nobody should feel alone."

Gray readjusted himself, turning away from the dragon slayer. "Then let's save her. And let's not fuck it up."

That was the end of the conversation, he knew, because he and Gray had reached an understanding. Both of them had been a little selfish, keeping their own interests at the forefront of their priorities, but now it was time to put aside their egos and save a girl whose life was on the line. Natsu was done being stupid. While there was no way of knowing whether Gray would able to salvage his connection with Juvia, he was going to have faith Gray would try.

And him? The idiot that had ultimately foiled their own rescue mission? Natsu went to stand, intending to head back to the library. He was going to do the only thing he could do. It was time to find a pen and a new sheet of paper.

Chapter Text

"Listen, I need you to look out for this guy with p—"

"Bora-sama wasn't there," Juvia cut in. She didn't really care about what he'd been about to say. Ever since that night in Cedar Town, she had basically shut down. Gray's lie had shattered her and the rest of the broken pieces were still trying to figure out why her boyfriend had men violently trying to neutralize someone else. "Why weren't you there?"

There was a period of silence from the other side of the line. "...You weren't supposed to be there."

"But I  was , and I am trying to understand what happened," she replied, her voice lilting with desperation. "They were trying to kill us! Why do you have workers instructed to kill?"

Again, there was silence. Juvia swallowed, dying for an answer. He would tell her it was a mistake, that those weren't his men. He would tell her that she'd heard the wrong dock location. He would tell her what she yearned to hear and ease her mind, give her something to believe in again.

"I thought I specifically told you not to go there."

No, no, no. That wasn't it. That wasn't what Juvia wanted to hear at all. Why couldn't he just do what she wanted for once?

She answered meekly, feeling hopeless. "You did..."

"So why didn't you listen to me?" he demanded. Juvia could practically picture his nostrils flaring the way they did whenever he was angry.

"Juvia only wanted to see you," she replied quietly. There was no more strength left in her to fight with him. Again, she'd trusted the wrong person and humiliated herself. Jose didn't know, but if he ever found out what she'd done, the only place she'd ever fit in might not be so welcoming anymore. At this point, she was just clinging onto whatever else she had left to lose.

"Remember Juvia," he started with a menacing tone, "I'm running a business here, and if you can't be supportive of that, then I don't think my involvement with you is necessary."

Juvia trembled, her fists balled up tight. Right now, there seemed to be few things in left the world that would be worse than losing him. It was silly of her in the first place to have ever questioned their relationship. Poisonous words had gotten into her head, but they were gone now. She would go back to finding happiness the only way she knew how.

"Of course, Bora-sama. I'm sorry."

"Good. Now like I was saying earlier, I need you to keep an eye out for a man with pink hair, got it? He's been causing trouble for me."

"Yes, Bora-sama."

"You're only to use my contact if you see or hear about him. Don't think about calling otherwise."

"Yes, Bora-sama."

"And that business friend of yours? Tell him to get lost. I don't trust him."

"…Yes, Bora-sama."

"That's it. You know what to do."

The line clicked.

"Bora-sama, I love you."

"…"

She ended the call.

So, everything was terrible.

"Every one of these people is worthless," Gajeel muttered, his hands stuffed in his pockets as they walked down the wet streets of Hargeon.

He was slouched, moving swiftly in front of her while she dragged her feet through the puddles. Watching a man's back was not something she was unfamiliar with, but Juvia had never thought that would be the case with Gajeel. She hadn't said a word since they'd gotten off the train and since he was the one questioning all the residents they came across, approximately zero progress had been made. There was just no denying that he had a scary demeanour; what made things worse was how scaring people away or into silence just aggravated Gajeel more, thereby making him all the more frightening.

"Maybe… Maybe if I ask…?" she said meekly, but he had already moved on to another target. Though her voice had been quiet, Juvia knew he'd heard her. As a dragon slayer, Gajeel had better hearing than most. Still, he stomped on as if nothing had been said to him at all.

Yeah, Gajeel was mad at her. Having been a sobbing mess ever since her last encounter with Gray, he'd actually been concerned enough to ask why. At the time it had seemed pointless to hide it because she felt like she'd hit rock bottom, but it was a mistake to have stopped caring about everything. While Gajeel was her friend, his pride in their guild was high on his list of importance. Things went downhill fast once he found out that Juvia had been associating and helping a member of their biggest rival.

In the end, Juvia was worse off than when she'd returned to see her friend. However, it was a little less disheartening to know that Gajeel had told none of this to Jose. Having any sort of friendly association with Fairy Tail would doubtlessly leave her guildless if Jose had anything to do with it. That meant that even if Gajeel was mad at her, he still cared about her.

Unfortunately, that didn't translate into him slowing down for her. Each stride he took was much longer than hers and Juvia was having to jog some of the time to keep up. This mission was not turning out well either, especially with Gajeel's face eradicating all forms of life.

"Juvia knows Gajeel-kun is mad, but this is not working!" Juvia piped up as she tugged on his shoulder guard.

He turned his glare on her and it was obvious why so many people were intimidated by her friend. "I can do this just fine on my own!"

"Then why did you ask Juvia to come with you?" she retorted in frustration.

"To keep an eye on you and whatever loser you're with! Do you even know what you almost cost us?" Gajeel asked before thrusting the photo of Lucy Heartfilia in her face. "This. This whole goddamn mission could've been ruined because of you. You're lucky I found the little Fairy creeps before they could do any damage. To think that you talked to some random guy about our most important mission—you took your goddamn fantasies too far this time."

Her brow furrowed in confusion. "Our most important mission? Juvia has never spoken about specific guild matters with anybody outside of the guild."

He crossed his arms, clearly not believing her. "You sure about that?"

"I spoke about looking for a client's daughter, but never said who," Juvia replied. "Gray-sa—he...he was always focused on doing business with Bora-sama. Besides, Juvia would never give out important details like that!"

"Well then why did Master get a call about people sniffin' around our business? And why did those people turn out to be Fairies?" he demanded.

"I don't know! But Juvia didn't tell them!"

His eyes remained fixed on her for an extended period, but he would not get a different response. At least on that front, Juvia hadn't done anything wrong, and though she just felt like giving up altogether, she would not take the blame for something that wasn't her fault.

This time he slapped the photo down into her hand before spinning back around and shrugging. "That's one hell of a coincidence then."

Juvia cracked a smile and held the photo close to her chest. He was probably still mad, but at least he believed her.

Their search continued rather unsuccessfully. Although Gajeel was no longer frightening away all their potential leads, they continued to fail at generating one at all. Every single person they asked had no recollection of seeing their target. The two of them had followed the word of the attendant at the train station closest to the Heartfilia estate initially, and he'd been adamant that Lucy had headed to Hargeon. However, if that were the case, Lucy Heartfilia might as well have been a ghost. Juvia had completely lost track of how many people they'd asked overall with no progress whatsoever.

"Bet that train attendant was lyin'..."

Juvia sighed. It was never a good sign when Gajeel started muttering to himself. He was liable to do something violent soon if they didn't find a hint that Lucy had been in this town.

Trying keep calm for the both of them, she took a deep breath as she glanced across the street. Most of the stores were pretty unremarkable; a gift shop with glass windows that showed off various mugs and sweets, a liquor store which displayed a pyramid of champagne, and a small tailor shop. None of them seemed like places someone like Lucy Heartfilia would go—at least if Jude's description of her personality and hobbies were accurate. Their lack of success was piling on to the numerous other bad feelings she already had so much so that Juvia nearly missed the magical goods store amongst the collection of shops.

"Gajeel-kun, Heartphilia-san said that his daughter could use magic, didn't he?" she asked, already starting to cross the street without the confirmation.

"Yeah, something about keys or whatever..."

Gajeel's memory turned out to be just as good as hers as Juvia took note of the flyer in the window advertising a magical key. Whatever type of magic this was, Juvia hadn't really heard about it before. Details like that weren't really of the essence at the moment.

The bell on the door jangled as they stepped inside. It wasn't the finest establishment Juvia had ever seen, a bit of dust on the wooden shelves and the glass counter covered in scuffs and fingerprints, but she could understand the appeal of walking in here as a regular citizen. Half the store seemed to be filled with silly trinkets no mage would ever use like wands, spark gloves, and hologram projection cards—basically, items that could make fancy effects but would never work in battle. The other half held the items that were much more useful, but were incredibly boring for non-mages. Imbuement cards and various weapons filled the entire display box. It was unfortunate that not many people would fully appreciate that magical red quill that sat inside, nor the spell books lining the shelves.

"Can I help you?" asked the small man at the counter, looking at the pair like they were fresh meat. "Perhaps a shine ring for the lady or holo-collar for the gentleman?"

The corner of Gajeel's lip twitched. "...Did you just say I should be wearing a fucking collar?"

"It would fit perfectly with the look you're going for!"

While she knew Gajeel had some self-control, Juvia didn't want to risk this engagement getting any worse. She stepped in front of her companion swiftly and whipped out the photo of Lucy. "Hello! We would appreciate it if you could tell us if you've seen this girl."

The shopkeeper blinked at the sudden change in subject but complied, nonetheless. He leaned over to examine the picture more closely. "Hmm, she does look a bit familiar, but she's nobody I've seen recently. She a mage?"

Juvia nodded. "She may have come in here looking for a key...?"

"Ah! Of course! The blonde girl!" he exclaimed, visage lighting up. "Let me tell you, my store didn't used to have so many useless gadgets. Not many people come in here looking for real magic items, so I've had to change my target population to stay in business, but she was one of the few customers I had who was genuinely interested in my wares."

"Is there anything else you remember about her?" she asked.

"Hm... She had very nice..." He paused as his eyes drifted downwards below Juvia's neckline briefly before darting back up. "...assets. Even convinced me to give her a little discount on the key she bought."

"Is it possible someone would've wanted the key you sold her?" Gajeel cut in.

The shopkeeper only looked confused by the question, but Juvia knew it was only to try and rule out rule out the possibilities of Lucy's whereabouts. "Not a chance. Most of the general population doesn't even know what Celestial Keys are, and for the ones that do—well, it'd be pointless to steal a key that's so common. Nikora spirits exist in spades and they're more like pets than anything. What's this about anyway? Is the blonde girl in trouble?"

"Maybe," Juvia answered. "She's been missing for a while."

"Oh, poor girl."

"Do you have any idea where she could have gone after leaving your store?"

"No clue, but I can venture a guess," he responded, scratching at his partially bald head. "A young girl like that? She was in town the same day that Fairy Tail guy caused a huge ruckus in town."

"Fairy Tail?" Gajeel growled.

The shopkeeper nodded. "Or so I hear. Louise—the newspaper vendor in the town square—told me about the droves of girls that went crazy for this guy. Maybe she saw your girl too."

Finally, a lead in their case! Juvia had been desperate for something good to happen and a breakthrough in their case was just what she needed. Fairy Tail's name echoed in her mind. While she held no desire to get revenge against Gray for his deception, she felt obligated to her guild to make up for the fact that she had ever trusted him in the first place. It was something to focus on—something she could cling to when nothing else in her head seemed to make any sense.

"T-thank you so much for you help!" she said with a bow before hurrying out the door back into the rain. She'd only made it down the street when Gajeel firmly dragged her back.

"Slow down, will you?" he asked in a gruff tone. "The newspaper chick will still be there."

"But it's Fairy Tail, Gajeel-kun!"

"Yeah it is, so it's a good thing I got the drop on those bastards," Gajeel replied as he took the lead.

She glanced at him curiously. "What do you mean?"

He snorted. "What do you think I mean? After Master heard the Fairies were snooping, he told me to send them a message, so I did."

Juvia was silent, a little overwhelmed by the revelation of what he was trying to communicate. If Gajeel had hurt them, would Gray think it was because of what had happened between them? She didn't want him to—

No... She shouldn't be concerned with him and she couldn't understand why she had all these lingering feelings for him. He'd turned out to be just like all the other guys, using her as a means to an end. And even then, he'd only been her friend. Bora was the man she loved, the one she trusted, and Gray had tried to drive a wedge between them. She didn't care about him or his enemy guild.

Even as she told herself that, Juvia couldn't push Gray out of her thoughts completely. She should've also felt absolutely infuriated that something was targeting her boyfriend, but everything that happened that night was so confusing. She remembered Gray offering to explain himself and knowing she didn't need one, and yet there was a part of her that couldn't stop the regret of not letting him. At least every hour of the day, she wondered if maybe his words would've stopped her world from falling apart.

Gajeel's eyes narrowed. "You're not actually worried about those damn Fairies, are you?"

"No, of course not," she assured him as the town square came into view. The newspaper and magazine stand had been wheeled back in the corner of the are under the shelter of the trees to protect it from the rain. "Juvia is just...still trying to understand Gray's motivations."

"Does it matter? He's part of Fairy Tail," Gajeel said.

'Fairy Tail isn't that bad' was what she wanted to say, but Gajeel followed their Master the most faithfully and he would never see how terribly one-sided their rivalry with the other guild was. While it did seem awfully suspicious how much Fairy Tail seemed to be intertwined with their current mission, she was certain that wasn't what Gray was after.

"No, but Bora-sama... There were men who tried to kill Juvia," she tried to explain.

"You and Bora?"

Juvia shook her head. "Juvia and..."

Gajeel got the message, frowning deeply. "Are you telling me that your boyfriend tried to have you killed?"

It wasn't exactly what she was trying to say, but it was close enough. The idea that Bora was trying to kill anybody at all was as twisted as things came. It didn't make any sense. Why didn't things make any sense?

Juvia let out a long breath, trying to keep from spiraling. She was not going to let herself cry again. "Juvia doesn't know. Never mind."

She could feel his eyes burning into the back of her head still as she sped up to approach the girl at the newspaper stand. She was leaned over against the counter, long brown braids spilling over her shoulders as she stared intently at the magazine in her hands.

"Um... Excuse me..."

Louise looked up and closed her magazine abruptly. "Oh, hi! What can I help you with? Daily news? Weekly Witches? Sorcerer Weekly?" She paused to evaluate Gajeel. "...Tats and Studs?"

"No magazines," he replied flatly. Evidently, he wasn't very happy about all the judgement he was receiving from vendors today. "We're looking for someone."

The girl spun, supporting her back against the stand. "You are, huh? And I'm guessing you want my help with that."

"We do," Juvia said.

"Then you are going to want a magazine," Louise replied as she picked at her nails with vague disinterest. "Back scratches don't come free, you know. But I might be persuaded to loosen my lips a little for a couple of kind customers. So, what d'ya say?" She waved the Tats and Studs magazine in Gajeel's face.

"I will have an issue of Sorcerer Weekly," Juvia answered before Gajeel could (violently) react. She could spare a few jewels for the sake of the mission and calming her mission companion.

The exchange went smoothly, which was fortunately enough to keep Gajeel from getting further aggravated. Ironically, the magazine cover featured a silhouette of Fairy Tail's mysterious Mystogan. Juvia quickly rolled up the tabloid before her teammate could see the cover and went straight back to business.

Louise closed her cash register with a satisfied smile. "Alright, hit me with whatever you got. I'm at your service."

Gajeel flicked the picture of Lucy down on the stand. "We're looking for her."

"The shopkeeper at the magic store said you might've seen her. There was a man from Fairy Tail here on the same day, he said," Juvia added.

"Fairy Tail?" Louise scoffed in complete disbelief. "That geezer should learn not to believe everything he hears. Sure, maybe the uneducated might actually believe that guy was Fairy Tail, but he was totally lying."

"How do you know that?" Gajeel demanded.

"Duh?" She waved a hand at her stand. "What do you think I do when I don't have customers. The tabloids love Fairy Tail. They might not get a ton of pictures of the members, but some of the stuff they publish is consistent enough that it has to be accurate. Like Salamader? I've never seen him with my own two eyes, but I can tell you for sure that the guy down here claiming to be him wasn't. Sure made the girls wild, though. Hell, for a second, I thought I was into him. Then some guy bumped into my stand and I came back to my senses."

Juvia exchanged a knowing look with her guildmate. That was an exact description of how a love spell worked and basically a confirmation that Fairy Tail hadn't been behind this. Love spells were illegal since they took away a person's sense of awareness. No member of a legitimate guild would be out doing that kind of magic. That meant the person behind this had been purposely luring girls to the town square for some reason.

"And the girl in the picture? Do you recognize her?" Juvia asked.

Louise scrutinized the photo, nose crinkling in concentration. "The face I don't recall, but her hairstyle is pretty distinct. There was definitely a blonde with that same hairstyle in the group that guy invited to a party on his ship. A lot of the girls were complaining that they hadn't gotten invited."

Gajeel's gaze was directed at the harbour in the distance. "So he came by water."

"What did you expect? We're a fishing town. The majority of visitors we get come on boats," the vendor said as she fanned herself with a copy of the daily paper. "This is the weird thing though. I don't know that girl you're looking for, but one of the girls that regularly buys magazines here—well, she went to the boat party and I haven't seen her since. It's been a few months, I think."

The implication stood on its own. Whatever they'd walked into was a lot worse than Juvia had anticipated. You couldn't just combine those facts and pretend like there was a different conclusion.

"You said the guy involved in all this wasn't Fairy Tail, so then who is he?" Gajeel asked, almost as if in doubt.

"I dunno, I'd never seen him before," Louise answered with a shrug, "but I can tell you exactly what he looks like. You don't feel that level of hot for a guy and not remember him." She tossed the paper she was holding back onto the rack and tore off a blank piece of receipt paper. Grabbing a pen, she began to sketch. "He had a thin face and a really sharp chin, kind of a cocky look to him. Then you've got the black eyes and blue hair, but I think this is what's gonna be most useful to you." Louise held up the slip of paper and turned it around, a very familiar sketch of a curved 'x' on the other side. "This tattoo was above his right eyebrow."

It took little more than a few seconds for that image to generate a face in her mind, and then the floor seemed to crumble beneath her boots. At first, Juvia thought their witness had to be wrong, but a description that thorough was not a coincidence. Denial came on swiftly and left her in the same breath.

"Are you okay?" she heard Gajeel ask as she gripped his shoulder for support and retreated into her own little world.

He hadn't had a good reason for leaving his guild. He never told her anything about his work. He hadn't wanted her to come to the docks that day and was angry when he found out she did. He'd hired a bunch of men to kill someone who was snooping around in his business. Girls went missing after partying on a ship. Then there was Gray. There was Lucy. And in the middle of it all?

Bora.

Juvia wanted to scream, or cry, or something, but in the end, she just sank to her knees and let the rain fall harder as she clutched Gajeel's hand. Everything made sense again.

Everything made a little too much sense.

Chapter Text

"Hey... It's not your fault, you know."

Gray sat by Levy's bed in the infirmary, ignoring the unrelenting dull ache in his head. Porlyusica had taken care of the worst of his and Natsu's injuries, but she'd felt it was better for them to recover from the concussions on their own. What that really meant was that she was forcing both of them to slow down and get some rest. It was a clever idea, but unnecessary—for himself, at least. Gray didn't feel like going much of anywhere since he'd gotten back to headquarters.

"I blew my cover," Gray replied, shaking his head. "What if she's the one who..."

"The timing doesn't work out. It was just a coincidence," Levy assured him with a weak smile. She had bandages on her cheeks and was patched all the way up and down her arms. Beneath her gown, there were surely more from the multiple broken ribs she'd sustained. "Besides, I'm okay."

Her hands trembled as they clutched the blanket. There was a haunted look behind her eyes that made him feel like she was far away despite them being in the same room. Maybe it really hadn't been his fault that Shadow Gear had been attacked, but he felt guilty, nonetheless. He was the only one who'd had contact with Phantom Lord up until now, and somehow, Levy had gotten hurt—more than just physically.

"Did you finish reading that book I lent you?" she asked.

Gray nodded. "Yeah. I think it might be the worst thing you've ever given to me."

Levy laughed for a moment before wincing in pain. "It's a good book. I think you just didn't take its lessons to heart." She rubbed her sternum as she pulled the covers a little further up over her body in the reclined position. "Why are you trying to blame yourself for this?"

He couldn't look at her. Every time he thought of answering, his throat went dry. How was it possible to blame somebody else when he was always at the center of it when things went wrong? It wasn't a matter of trying; it was a matter of already knowing he could have done something to prevent this. And after everything, he couldn't even save Lucy.

"You did your best," Levy assured him. "You did everything you were supposed to. We can't control all the outside factors..."

A moment passed between them before Gray truly understood what she was saying. Levy didn't blame him for anything, nor did she regret anything that had happened. She'd been pursuing a lead and that lead had somehow gotten her injured, just like his own encounter in Cedar Town. His relationship with Juvia was shattered and he had nothing to show for it despite having done nearly everything right. Still, the guilt sat deep in his soul, reminding him of everything he'd had to do.

"You have to try... Just try to forgive yourself."

He really couldn't do it. He couldn't do it at all. Forgiving himself while Juvia was still out there hating his guts was impossible. While Gray would never expect her to forgive him either, he still found himself wandering down to the little cafe he'd met Juvia at nearly every day. It was probably a bad idea, but the thought of staying away from her was somehow worse.

Besides, he couldn't help Lucy just sitting around back at the guild. Whatever lead Levy had been working on was useless without her because all she'd really been doing was trying to get in touch with the Heartfilia family. Frankly, Gray was more curious about how that search was connected to Phantom Lord. He was still slightly paranoid that the reason for his friends' injuries was due to his deception with Juvia, but Levy herself had ruled out that possibility with a timeline of events.

So then why...? He wished he could just ask Juvi—

Gray paused in his stride as the cafe came into view. On the patio, sitting in their spot clear as any day she wasn't there to make it rain, was Juvia Lockser. It certainly hadn't been the first time he'd gone back to the cafe since the truth came out, but frankly, Gray didn't expect she would ever return considering how his lies had sullied the place.

At first, he thought that maybe he should leave out of respect for her. After all, this cafe had been Juvia's spot to begin with. Who was he to make it his own? But before he could turn around, her black eyes locked onto his, and strangely enough, she seemed oddly calm about the fact that he was there. She stared at him for a few moments, then nodded her head at the seat across from hers where he always used to wait for her.

Well, he could have predicted approximately zero percent of this and he had no idea if this was some sort of ambush to get revenge on him, but if she was inviting him to sit down, he was going to accept it. It was the least he could do.

Throwing all caution to the wind, Gray made his way onto the property and settled into his reserved seat. There were two cups of tea on the table, one empty and the other half-consumed. It didn't look like she'd slept very well over the last few days considering the dark rings around her eyes. Her eyes themselves were red and puffy, a sure sign that she'd been crying a lot. Gray was more confused than ever as to why he was sitting here when he was surely a part of that melancholy.

However, Juvia remained completely in control of her emotions despite his presence. The rain too, which responded to her emotions, was no heavier than it had been the first time he met her. She was upset, but she was...steady.

He fidgeted with his interlaced fingers. "...Hey."

She didn't return his greeting at first, only examining him for a few extended seconds as she lifted the teacup to her lips. She took a large sip before letting out a long breath. "Hello."

Gray waited for her to continue the conversation, but that single word seemed to be the only one she was willing to let drop at the moment. While several questions were sitting on the tip of his tongue, he'd already made up his mind to let Juvia be in control of this meeting. It wasn't fair when all the times prior had been on his terms, even if she hadn't been aware of that at the time.

They sat in silence again until she finally summoned the courage to speak to him. She shifted in her seat, tucking her hair behind her ear before she spoke.

"Will Gray-san... Will you tell me the truth?" Juvia asked as she wrung her hands together.

He nodded. "I'm not sure if you'll believe me, but I will."

She bit her lip. "Juvia...doesn't know how to trust you."

"So don't," he responded, keeping his eyes on her as he leaned forward on folded arms. "I can't change how you feel in one day and I won't try to. I betrayed your trust. If I were you, I probably wouldn't trust me either."

She gazed into her tea contemplatively before locking eyes with him. "Juvia needs more information."

Gray was a little surprised, but tried not to show it. Nothing had really gone the way he'd expected it to so far anyway. This was a very different Juvia than he was used to dealing with. Then again, he'd never been the one who was the cause of her pain.

"Phantom Lord has seen Fairy Tail as a rival for a long time. While our Master has always worked hard to be seen as the better guild, Juvia knows this feeling has never been reciprocated," she began. "Why is Fairy Tail interested in us now?"

"Not all of you—just you," he replied as he ran a hand through his hair. "I dunno how this turned out to be such a disaster, but you're right about one thing: we don't see your guild as competition. We've always left you guys alone. That's why I don't understand why your guild would attack us unless..." He trailed off, reluctant to accuse her of something that wasn't possible in the first place.

"You are not in any position to point fingers," Juvia said, her voice harsh for the first time since he'd sat down.

"No, I'm not."

Her countenance remained stern as the rain seemed to finally pick up and bounced loudly off their table's umbrella. "Why me?"

"Bora," Gray answered. It was time. She hadn't been willing to listen all those days ago when she'd lain him out on the street, but she was sitting here now, even if he'd pissed her off. "It wasn't you or your guild; it was your connection to Bora. I was supposed to be in and out of this fast, but he never came to see you and the guy didn't even give you a number to call him at, so I stayed around until I had the chance to meet him."

Juvia looked pained. "And there was a reason for that too."

He shifted in his seat, trying to cover up his discomfort for where this was going. "Then you know Bora's not a good guy," Gray said.

"Juvia knows more than she wishes to," she replied tearfully, "enough to know that Gray-san is looking for a girl—a girl who was taken away on Bora's ship."

"Y-yeah..."

Frankly, he was astonished by the words that were coming out of her mouth. It was a mix of sadness and resentment that she seemed resigned to. This was a far cry from the girl who'd gone off on him for bad-mouthing her boyfriend. And Gray hadn't even had to tell her the truth. Somehow, she'd stumbled upon the truth on her own.

"But how is it that Gray-san knows about Bora and his ship?" Juvia asked as she set her hands in her lap.

"It was all pure coincidence. You might not believe me, but it's true. A few weeks ago, one of my friends came back to this guild with a bottle he'd found while fishing. There was a letter inside from a girl on that ship, and the letter had Bora's name on it. We've just been trying to find and bring her home."

She stared at him for a long moment and Gray could practically feel her taking him in. "And her name? Do you know her name?"

He wondered why that was relevant, but it certainly wasn't the right time to start refusing her. "It's Lucy."

Though Juvia didn't react, he could see the wheels in her head turning. She'd always been somewhat of an intriguing person to him, but he understood more parts of her each time she opened up to him. Today, her dark eyes seemed shrouded in mystery, her motives completely unknown. Gray could guess all he wanted and not figure out exactly what she was thinking right now.

"Do you remember when you first met Juvia?" she asked, delicately running her thumb along the rim of her teacup. "Gray-san was very angry about the way Bora was treating me."

"I… Yeah…"

"Then it's up to Gray-san to show Juvia what the right way should be."

He cocked his head slightly. Trying to follow her line of thought was difficult enough. Giving out relationship advice? Well, he was the last person in the world who should be doing that. "I'm not sure I'm really qualified for that."

"A date with you then," Juvia insisted. "What would that be like?"

A blush broke out on Gray's face. This was way too much pressure for a bombshell like that with no prior notice. He definitely didn't randomly think of date ideas on a regular basis. It wasn't exactly one of his top priorities. "W-well, I guess I'd start off the day at some place like this. It would be good to just sit and talk, have some coffee, tea, or whatever."

"You would do that? Just sit and talk?" she asked looking genuinely curious.

Meanwhile, Gray couldn't even begin to guess why this was so boggling to her. "Of course. How do you get to know someone if you don't talk to them?"

"And you...you would want to talk to them?"

"Uh huh..."

Juvia nodded in fascination, her eyes wide. "What next? After the coffee."

Mavis help him, she really wasn't going to make this easy for him. He scratched at his cheek as his brain started working overtime. "It depends. I'd probably try to do something we'd both like to do. Like if it were you, I'd take you to some sort of crafting class," he said as he thought of all the little plushies she was constantly sewing.

"You would enjoy that?" she asked, apparently disbelieving.

"I am somewhat of an architect," he replied as he waved his hand. "You know, magic and all." And it wasn't a lie either. Gray had learned to appreciate the art of creation in his studies under Ur. However, since Juvia still appeared pensive on the subject, he continued on to his next move. "Then we'd go to a nice dinner. Nice—not fancy, 'cause I'm not rich and those high-class restaurants are pretentious as hell—but somewhere we could eat actual food. We'd talk some more, and if we liked each other, that wouldn't be a problem. It'd be easy."

"What is that like?"

He choked at her response. What was with these questions? Gray was almost tempted to ask her if she was just screwing with him, but the seriousness of her expression hadn't changed. It was possible that she was actually that ignorant when it came to relationships. Bora was her current boyfriend and it certainly sounded like he treated her like a doormat. There was also no telling what any of her prior relationships had been like.

Gray composed himself and prepared for any other seemingly obvious questions he might receive. "Uh, it's like us right now, or even us before you found out I was Fairy Tail. Because we were friends. It's usually pretty easy to talk to your friends."

"And...and the person you're with should be your friend," Juvia said, stumbling hesitantly to the conclusion.

"Yeah. I mean, if you're going to be spending time with someone, you probably want to enjoy their company."

She nodded but vaguely looked like she was off in her own little world. "Then dinner, who pays for it?"

He shrugged. "Call me old-fashioned, but I'd want to pay for it. Especially if I was the one who asked her out."

Juvia laughed a little before finishing the last of her tea. It was nice to see something of a smile on her face, a direct contrast to the red eyes she'd been sporting this whole time. "A date with you sounds very nice, Gray-san."

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I'm not sure about that..." She was only going off what he'd told her, and he'd been on his best behaviour around her since their first meeting. There was no way she would ever suspect he was prone to randomly losing his shirt or pants (or underwear), regardless of whether or not he was on a date with a girl. Standing next to a naked guy on a street corner could hardly be any girl's idea of a good time.

"Would Gray-san be okay with walking Juvia home?" she asked, her voice more even and steady than it had been all morning.

"Sure," Gray replied, slightly astounded. He followed suit as she got to her feet. "Lead the way."

Juvia dropped a few jewels on the table before grabbing her parasol which was propped up on the side. They exited the cafe's premises under her parasol as she headed north towards the edge of town.

The comfortable silence was broken by Juvia as she twirled the handle of her umbrella in her hands. "Gray-san, what's Fairy Tail like?"

"What d'you mean?" he asked.

"Well, Jose-sama really wants our guild to be better than yours, so Juvia just wants to know why and how."

So, even Jose's guild members didn't know why they had such a fierce rivalry with Fairy Tail, huh? The mystery would remain for both of them. Nobody in Fairy Tail really paid much attention to another guild trying to outdo them—except maybe Laxus and his team. Otherwise, they were content to do their own thing without fear of judgement. Even with the amount of bad publicity they got from each member's odd tendencies, Makarov encouraged them to continue to be themselves.

"Nobody in Fairy Tail holds back, so it tends to get really loud," Gray explained as he tugged at the collar of his shirt. "And destructive. People don't hold back when it comes to fighting even each other. Guess that's what happens when you put a bunch of passionate mages together."

Juvia giggled softly. "It sounds very lively."

"Yup. There are a whole lot of personalities in the guild, and not many of them tend to be on the calmer side," he continued casually. There was no sense in keeping any secrets from Juvia when it came to Fairy Tail; if she wanted to, she could find all these things out in a gossip magazine. They might always try to do right, but they didn't have a very good filter when it came to behaving themselves in a socially acceptable manner. "Some of us drink, some of us break things, and some of us..." An image of his fiercest rival flashed through his mind. "...are just giant morons."

"And which one of those are you?" Juvia teased.

"Me? I'm..." He looked down to find his abs free of their confines, then back up to see Juvia's shocked expression. Gray groaned and swept his wet hair from his face as he glanced around for wherever his shirt had run off to. "...Are you fucking kidding me? Ugh, fine. I'm the guy that can't keep his clothes on."

Juvia either had the good grace not to laugh or, judging by the redness of her face, was simply too embarrassed by the situation to comment on the state of his undress. Oh sure, he'd managed to remain fully clothed for the last month he'd known her, but as soon as he stopped constantly babysitting himself, articles of clothing just disappeared.

"I feel like I know Gray-san better now—the real Gray-san," she said with a smile. "You aren't a bad person, and your guild isn't so bad either. I think we would get along if Master allowed it."

Gray turned to face her, missing shirt forgotten. "I know I lied to you, but I still considered you a friend. I still do."

"I don't know if you're a friend, but I don't believe Gray-san is a bad person," Juvia replied as she stopped at an intersection surrounded by small complexes. "Here is good. Juvia only has one last thing to say to you anyway."

He blinked, surprised by her sudden boost in mood.

"Lucy Heartfilia," was her simple reply. "It's only fair that Gray-san know that we seek the same person, because you can rest assured, Phantom Lord will be the one to bring her home."

Bewildered, Gray didn't really know what to say. It hadn't occurred to him that Lucy might mean something to them too.

"Remember, Juvia has the upper hand. My guild will succeed," she continued with determination. The look in her eyes was almost challenging.

"Is that a declaration of war?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"If it comes down to it," Juvia said, nodding. "I will complete our mission, and if Gray-san wants what is best for Heartfilia-san, then you won't stand in our way. We will ensure she gets home to her father."

The last thing he wanted to do was fight with Juvia again, but they had no intention of bringing Lucy home. They knew enough about her lack of freedom from the notes she had written Natsu to know that bringing her back to her father would only hurt her further. However, try as he might, Gray couldn't organize the thoughts in his head to explain any of this to her.

"You-you can't..." Gray began, searching for the right words.

But he wasn't quick enough. She turned on her heel, pausing before she walked off to give him one last glance of acknowledgement.

"Goodbye, Gray-san. May the better guild win."

"Wait! There's more you should know!" he called after her, but she kept moving until the rain drowned out the sound of her footsteps and her figure disappeared into the distance.

Gray sighed. Going after her would be hopeless when he couldn't even figure out what to say himself. The only thing he could do was start moving forward, but his only lead had just realized all the potential of her relationship. Fairy Tail was back at square one when it came to finding Lucy Heartfilia, and knowing they were now in a race with Phantom Lord to see who got to her first didn't help.

He didn't know how to feel. It wasn't exactly forgiveness, but the truth was out there and it was better than the place they'd been in this morning. Still, moving forward meant fighting her and that was something he didn't want to do.

The rain began to subside as Gray headed back to the guild. There was no choice. Someone's freedom was at stake and he wasn't going to risk that for the sake of his own feelings. It was basically impossible for him and Juvia to come out of this on good terms, and the prospect of that loomed over him.

He swallowed his regret while the sun broke through the clouds. Wishes didn't come true. He shouldn't have wasted that jewel.

Chapter Text

Juvia never knew that her relationship would mean so much to somebody else. There she was, just sitting there being sad over her boyfriend's treatment of her when he was out there treating several others so much worse. That she could care for somebody who would treat others that way was unnerving to her. Had Bora always been like this and she'd been blinded by her "love" or was he just that good of an actor? She did not want to be blind, especially to something like this.

That was why she didn't regret her conversation with Gray. His answers had shown her not only that he wasn't a bad person, but also that she was allowed to expect more out of a relationship. However, there were others that cared much less about her personal revelation. Namely, Gajeel.

"He's Fairy Tail! How could you meet with him again?" the dragon slayer demanded from her sofa, the ends of his hair dripping onto the fabric. Juvia's eyes were directed lower to where his ankle and boot were lying against the fabric of her furniture. They were pretty muddy from the outside, but it was just like Gajeel to never have the courtesy to dry off or remove his dirty clothes before he trekked into her apartment. Water was easily cleaned up, but dirt was not.

"I just needed the truth," she said a little defensively. Juvia had known Gajeel wasn't going to be happy with her, but she couldn't get to the point without telling him the truth. "Besides, are you really going to judge Juvia after what you did to those Fairy Tail members?"

He sniffled loudly and crossed his arms. "They had it coming, snoopin' around our business like that."

Sometimes Juvia found it a tad ironic that Gajeel thought she was overdramatic when he did things like beat people up and then basically staple them to trees. She was rather disappointed that he would even go to such extremes just because they were members of their rival guild, but that was just the way he was: fiercely loyal and ready to destroy anything that threatened the things he cared about.

"This is why Juvia asked Gajeel-kun to come over. They weren't looking into the Heartfilia family without a reason. I know that now, and I know that because I went to meet with Gray-san," Juvia said as she lifted her hand from her spot on the other couch and drew all the water Gajeel had left on her sofa into her body. As suspected, there was a streak of brown across the fabric of her cushions where Gajeel's boot had brushed against it. She sighed. That was going to take a while to get out.

Gajeel snapped his fingers. "Hey, pay attention. You're not allowed to tune out when we're having this conversation. We have some stupid fairies on our case and you went to go see one? This better be good."

"Gajeel-kun is being mean..." she muttered, curling up into the corner of her seat. "Juvia has discovered that Fairy Tail is also looking for Heartfilia-san's daughter. For what reason, Juvia doesn't know, but the fact is, their guild was not interfering in our affairs; we just happened to share the same objective."

He snorted as he put his feet up on her coffee table. Yet another thing to clean...

"How can you be sure he told you the truth?" he asked. "He lied to you convincingly for a couple of weeks. I doubt he'd have any problem doing it again."

She could understand his skepticism, but it was getting a little bothersome that he didn't believe her intuition. This wasn't some issue in her love life that she was always getting wrong; it was professional! Juvia was not impulsive and irrational when it came to work, though she knew she could be those things when romance was involved. Gajeel should know she could separate the two.

"Gray-san had no reason to lie. I asked for the name of the person Fairy Tail has been looking for and he told me." Juvia paused, shooting her guild mate a meaningful look. It was time to tell him the truth she'd been hiding since their trip to Hargeon. "Lucy. He befriended me because Bora-sa—B-Bora...is the one who has her."

Gajeel stared at her, his expression dumbfounded. His boots slid off the table with a thud. "...What? Did you just say your boyfriend has her?"

She looked everywhere but at him and nodded.

"Your boyfriend has her?" he tried again.

"Yes," Juvia answered. "I realized in Hargeon—"

"In Hargeon?"

Juvia was cowering a little until the revelation that she had no reason to do so. The whole reason she'd reached this path was because she hadn't valued her feelings enough. Not today. She had valid reasons for not telling Gajeel and her guild. Although it was her guild, Juvia didn't want them to use her like Gray had; she wanted to confront Bora on her own terms and not because she had a mission to complete.

"Yes, in Hargeon," she said firmly, "and Juvia is now ready to use that information."

"You didn't tell me about this, and then you went to talk to a guy who's part of a guild that's gunning for us." He sat in silence for a moment, looking like he was debating whether or not he was going to be mad at her. "I don't understand how the wheels in your head turn."

Juvia pouted, thinking about how much courage it had taken her to even tell him about this. "Fairy Tail is our rival only because Master has said so. They're only after us now because someone overdid it," she replied, her tone sarcastic.

That appeared to subdue him some as he began to grumble to himself. Juvia did not approve of what he'd done to those members of Fairy Tail and she was not afraid to let him know so. Loyal to a fault, Gajeel would not let anything get in the way of him protecting his guild. It was not a good look sometimes. From what she'd heard, Gajeel had launched a sneak attack on them after discovering that they were poking around for information on the Heartfilias. They hadn't stood a chance. She could understand wanting to protect one's family, but overkill was overkill. There was no need to beat them senseless and hang them from a tree.

"The guild comes first, Juvia," Gajeel said with a sulky glare.

"You hurt real people, Gajeel-kun," she retorted, her disapproval of his actions unwavering, "people who haven't done anything wrong. Jose-sama might be happy about what you did, but you didn't help anything by attacking them. They were only trying to help Heartfilia-san's daughter."

He stiffened at her reasoning and Juvia saw the humanity in him coming to the surface. "They would've jeopardized our guild's biggest mission."

Juvia understood that he truly thought Fairy Tail's interest in the same person would hurt Phantom Lord, and that was why he was able to do some of the things he did. Unfortunately, that was all because of the precedent of what was good for their guild set by their Master. Gajeel's blind loyalty sometimes caused him to forget his morality.

"At least take responsibility for it," Juvia said. She refused to feel bad for taking the time to process her emotions and putting their mission on the backburner while she did so, especially when Gajeel was going off and doing horrible stuff like that. "The increase in Fairy Tail's involvement is your fault too."

Gajeel's mouth was clamped shut, but his posture had grown less rigid as he slouched into the couch.

Satisfied that Gajeel had realized he'd been a complete asshole, Juvia backtracked to what they'd been talking about in the first place. "I will call Bora and set up a meeting. This time, Juvia will not take no for an answer."

"I'll... I'll get the guild in order," he replied in an uncharacteristically weak voice. Gajeel stood up to go, but stopped in front of the door. "You knew this was gonna piss me off and you still wanted me to come here? Why not just go straight to Master and alter the story?"

Juvia peeked at the communication lacrima sitting on her table and dragged it closer. She could see Gajeel looking at her over his shoulder in the surface's reflection. His face never really looked anything less than stern, but his dark eyes had softened into those of a friend's. It was nice to know that he wasn't going to stay mad at her for long.

Her gaze lowered to the edge of the table where her fingers brushed against the bend of the wood. "Lies and deceit... I am tired of being on the receiving end of those things from others and myself. Gajeel-kun has always told me the truth, so it's only right that Juvia does the same in return."

"After the fact," Gajeel pointed out, but if there were any anger he was holding in, she couldn't hear it. Instead, he let out a long sigh as he turned back toward the door. "Do what you need to do. I'll talk to Master."

She felt a lot less confident after he'd gone. Being a part of Phantom Lord had always given her a place where she was accepted, but doing something like delaying her delivery of intel was not going to make Jose very happy. Gajeel's values also stemmed directly from where his loyalties lay, so speaking her mind around him on a subject that he actually cared about? Well, she was no stranger to judgement, but Juvia felt lonelier than ever.

When the rain had isolated her for so long, that had been something she was the most terrified of. It was kind of funny how long it'd taken her to realize that trying to change herself to get someone to accept her was never going to stick. All the broken relationships before Bora should have shown her that. To try and be enough so that someone would love her in spite of the rain was fruitless. The rain was a part of her, one that she was finally beginning to accept.

Swallowing, Juvia dialed the number of her boyfriend's contact lacrima. She fiddled with her fingers as the crystal gleamed in front of her. She could do this. Even if she still cared for him, he was committing an unjustifiable act. The girls aboard his ship were probably much stronger than her. If she could draw upon even just a fraction of their strength...

"Who is this?"

Juvia was startled by the voice, her heart nearly jumping out of her chest. In the crystal, she could see the face of an unruly man, a scar streaking across the bridge of his nose. He was obviously very bulky from the thickness of his neck and his expression was stern. In fact, he was a little scary-looking. Her first point of contact with Bora was already wearing down on her nerves.

"Um, this is Juvia, Bora-sama's girlfriend. Bora-sama asked Juvia to call about the man with the pink hair...?"

The response was immediate and the one she desired. The man on the other side nodded before disappearing from the screen, obviously having gone to get Bora. Juvia played with the ends of her hair. This was what she'd been waiting for since her trip to Hargeon with Gajeel. In her mind, a thousand scenarios had formed, all which played out differently. She didn't know what was going to happen, but she knew what she wantedto happen.

His face appeared in the crystal before she heard his voice, the dark blue hair and sharp jaw line she'd always admired reminding her of a few things she'd seen in him back then. However, Juvia's eyes were drawn to the tattoo over his right eyebrow. Things had been shifting before that, but that tattoo certainly had more impact on her view of her boyfriend than anything else.

"Juvia, you found him? The guy with the pink hair? Where is he?" Bora demanded without so much as a greeting.

She stared at the image before her. Handsome though he might be, his looks seemed to fade with every word that came out of his mouth. "Yes."

"Well, tell me where he is!"

What a foul man. Whatever hope Juvia had been clinging to disintegrated with only a few sentences. There had been decency in him when they'd first met, but maybe it had all been an act—one designed to make her fall for him, and it had worked like a charm. After so many failed relationships, how could she still be so naive? All she did was fall for one jerk after another.

Well, at least the other ones hadn't been kidnapping criminals.

"No." The word came out of her mouth much more easily than she ever thought it would. A mere month ago, the thought of refusing Bora's requests would send her into a spiral of guilt. Since then, she had defied him because she wanted to see him, a decision that had sent the truth unraveling before her. Juvia would be deterred no longer.

"No?" he echoed in disbelief.

"No," she said again.

Bora was practically growling at the crystal. "What do you mean 'no'?"

"Juvia means no," she replied, her posture straightening. "It has been months since Juvia last saw Bora-sama in person. If you want to know the location of the man with the pink hair, then you will come see me. You, not anyone else."

"Juvia, this is my business we're talking about!" Bora tried, his voice unconvincingly sweet with undertones of panic and annoyance.

"The business that has taken up every second of Bora-sama's free time and has left nothing for me. I deserve to have some time too."

She was uncompromising so her "boyfriend" moved onto his last strategy. "Of course you do," he said, "and I haven't been giving that to you. I'm so sorry. You'll have my time, I promise. But this...it's just really important to protect my business. So please, the location?"

"No." It was so easy to see through his lies now. Frankly, it was rather embarrassing that she had fallen for them at all. He left her breadcrumbs and she had always been foolish enough to follow them. How could it have ever possibly been love?

"Damn it, Juvia! I need to know where that man is!" he shouted, clearly at his wit's end.

"Then come see me and I will tell you," was her simple response.

Bora was glaring into the lacrima from very close proximity, looking disheveled and breathing hard. His teeth were gnashing together as he considered her proposal. Finally, he hissed and crossed his arms, backing away from the crystal until he was a reasonable distance away again. "...Fine. I can be at any major port in your area in five days."

"Good. Bora-sama will meet Juvia in Hargeon in five days time at four. I will disclose the location of the man with the pink hair there to Bora-sama and only Bora-sama," she said with finality, "so do not send anyone else."

"I get it, I'll be there," he replied irritably. However, Bora couldn't just leave it there. "I don't know what happened to you, but I don't like this new attitude of yours. You've changed. You're not the girl I love anymore."

His words hurt her, and that made Juvia angry. To care about any of the false words he'd applied to her was to admit that she still had feelings for him. And she did, but could they even be considered real? The man living in her heart was someone she had created through the few good moments she'd had with Bora. She'd fallen in love with him because he hadn't left her, but the reality was that he had left her—for months! Not just physically either. Emotionally, Juvia wasn't even sure he'd ever cared for her at all.

Her hand hovered over the button to end the call, her voice low enough that he wouldn't hear. "I never was."

The day had been quiet since Natsu arrived at the guild headquarters. He'd gotten awfully good at pacing over the last few days, wearing a hole out on the floor from trying to do things the right way. While he was able to hold himself back from being as reckless as was characteristic of him, it did nothing for his impatience.

Gray's relationship with Juvia hadn't resulted in any leads. In fact, the whole thing only gave him more to worry about. Phantom Lord had the same primary objective as them, but they didn't know enough or care enough about Lucy to do right by her. If they found her first, they would bring her back to the one other place she couldn't return to. The one good thing that had come of this was that Gray seemed to be working harder than ever to try and locate Lucy. They had virtually no direction to go on, and yet he picked up right where Levy left off in terms of looking into the Heartfilia family. Whatever had happened with Juvia had really spurred him on. Natsu had no idea what, but obviously it had affected him significantly. While the guy was dedicated on missions, even he never really applied himself like he was doing right now.

And still they turned up nothing. It was frustrating beyond belief. They knew that Lucy had left home by herself, but nobody at the nearest train stations seemed to recognize her. They didn't even know if she'd left home using a train. According to Gray, Juvia now seemed to be aware of Lucy's whereabouts, and with her being Bora's girlfriend, there was no doubt she would use that for the benefit of her guild's mission.

Natsu looked away from the job board, his eyes already unfocused on the flyers that were posted on it. All he wanted was a good distraction, but nothing seemed to be good enough. Sighing, he tried again. Something where his recklessness would actually be helpful would be the ideal mission. Unfortunately, the board was mostly filled with deliveries, security detail, and missing items for which there were rewards upon return. The only mildly exciting ones were tracking down the culprits of major robberies, though they were generally easily dealt with when robbers weren't exactly the strong types.

Seeing nothing better, he grabbed the one with the biggest reward. "Armoured vehicle robbery," it read. "Transport of illegal weapons intercepted on Saturday night by masked robbers. Evidence collected at the address below. Arrest of robbers and recovery of weapons required for full reward. Partial reward will be given for partial completion."

"Let's go with this one," he said with finality as he handed the paper down to Happy.

"We're really going to do a mission?" Happy asked, his brow crinkling as he accepted the flyer with both paws. "We're not going to look for Lucy?"

He knew that Lucy hadn't been at the location they had been given at the bar, but also appeared unaware of how Natsu's actions had altered what had ultimately transpired that day. Although Happy might figure it out for himself one day, at this point, it felt a bit awkward to bring up. A massive screw up like that wasn't something Natsu wanted to draw attention to. Even with his best friend.

Natsu settled for a vague answer. "Gray's working on new leads and I agreed I'd let him do it on his own. I have to keep my word. But we can't just wait around while that's happening, so we need to do something else in the meantime."

"Aye."

"Natsu-san!"

Yukino's sudden entrance had him forgetting all about the job board. She looked flustered as she swept past a few of the other guild members to get to him.

"Yukino, you okay?" he asked, a little confused as to why she seemed so worried. "Did you get a message back from Lucy?"

She shook her head. "No, and something's wrong. Aquarius is calling to me. Urgently. I started looking for you as soon as I felt it."

Lucy... Natsu had no way of knowing if she was okay, but now he was itching to go out and find her again. If one of her spirits was calling, he didn't believe that whatever could be happening on her end was a good thing. And here he was, unable to do a thing. Still, he had to know.

"Let's go," he said, and they headed outside to the nearest body of water.

The two of them didn't even make it to a lake. Instead, they stopped at a large fountain in town that wasn't necessarily ideal, but would do the job in the event of an emergency. The small audience they were inevitably going to have doing this out in the middle of town was worth the time they would save.

Yukino didn't even blink at his choice of location as she stood in front of the fountain, gathering her magic. She turned the key and the gate opened, Aquarius rising out of the water with considerably less grandeur than Natsu was used to seeing from the celestial spirits. There was no flourish of her hair nor spectacle with her pot; she simply lunged forward to grasp at the ledge of the fountain, water splashing up at her sudden movement.

"Where is Lucy? You said you would find her, so where is she?" the spirit demanded, her eyes wild with rage.

Natsu swallowed. "I…" ...fucked up. It was on the tip of his tongue, but getting past his shame to vocalize that wasn't something he could do so quickly.

Aquarius clutched the pot close to her chest. "She's calling to me and I can't get to her. I can't stand it. Why is she calling me when she threw us in the damn ocean?"

There was a deafening silence as Natsu staring into the water. They could all feel the heaviness that lingered in the air.

"...You haven't found her, have you?"

Her tone wasn't angry or accusatory; it was soft, despairing, and hopeless. It was all the things Natsu had felt when he realized that if it weren't for his actions, things could've been so different. But that was in the past. There was no going back to fix mistakes that had cost Lucy dearly.

"No, we...haven't," he replied, "but I'm not going to stop trying. It's stupid, I know—I don't even know what I can do right now. I just know that I can't give up on her. I can't until I know there's nothing I can do anymore."

"What a foolish sentiment," Aquarius agreed, nodding. She closed her eyes for a long moment before leveling her gaze at him. "Hold on to that. And hold on to me, because when my key is back in her hands, she's going to get it from me." The spirit quieted, her jaw clenched. "Stupid girl. The next time she calls me, she'd better make sure I can answer."

With that, Aquarius disappeared into the fountain and the murmurs around them quickly dispersed. Citizens of Magnolia took no mind of Fairy Tail's antics, though this was far more serious than a few bar brawls or damaged buildings. Yukino tucked the key away into her pocket with great care as she looked up at Natsu, brow furrowed.

"Natsu-san... What do we do? If Lucy-san is in so much distress that she's calling for her spirit..." She trailed off as she fiddled with her fingers.

She was far away and hurting and they had no means of finding out where. He knew the right answer despite how painful it was to say out loud.

"Nothing at all."

Chapter Text

It was all a waiting game. Perhaps it hadn't been so unfortunate after all, despite how her heart had sunk when he'd stopped in front of her. Still, she remained resilient. She had already been to Hell and back, and this wasn't Hell. Fate was going to have to work a lot harder for her to change her mind.

Her eyes darted to the sword sitting over the mantle of the fireplace. It was old and obviously meant for decoration, but it was still sharp. The object would fulfill its purpose. Although it had only been a couple of days, she had spent every waking moment going over the plan in her mind. The setup was so convenient, it had barely taken her any effort at all to come up with an escape plan. The lantern on the wall was sitting right above the cabinet full of liquor, and on top? More liquor of course.

She wouldn't call herself physically strong, but her mind was and she was certain she had enough energy to pull this off. As the guard in front of her approached the liquor cabinet, her eyes darted up to the lantern. The pull of magic came from within her more easily than it had in months and the light-source crashed into the bottle of whiskey. Amazing how much a full belly could change.

"The hell—?" the guard in front of her yelped as she leapt aside. The guard that had been behind her frantically joined the other in trying to put out the flames. With both of them now hovering over the cabinet, she summoned her magic again.

Heavy bodies splintered wood without any difficulty and the fire quickly worsened. She ignored the screams of the guards as she headed back to the fireplace only steps away from them. Grabbing the hilt of the sword, she pulled it from the wall like a sheathe. The effect was instant. Suddenly she was in control again, and all the time she'd spent on that ship feeling so uncertain if she would make it out alive seemed like it was years ago. With a sword in her hand, everything felt so clear.

Screams and a fire. More guards were sure to come, but she was going to walk out of here regardless. She had no problem cutting down every single one of them.

"I see..."

Gray stared across the table at his Master, looking for answers to come from the person who always had one in some form or another. However, there was only silence as Makarov's brow creased.

"We could never have anticipated that Phantom Lord would be caught up in the same objective we have," Erza said, taking a few strides from her spot beside Makarov. "I can see why they would be threatened by Levy's sleuthing, but that's still no excuse for what they did."

Makarov nodded. "Agreed. But for now, the only thing we can do is wait."

"What?" Gray lunged forward in his seat. "Didn't you hear what I said? They're closing in on Lucy as we speak. We can't let them find her first and take her to another place against her will!"

"And that is exactly why we'll wait," the Master replied, folding his arms pensively. "We have gone down every possible avenue to find Lucy and the bottom line is that we can't find that ship without Juvia. Unless we know where it's going to be, we're better off monitoring Phantom Lord's movements in whatever capacity we can."

"I hate to state the obvious, but there's no way we can monitor them that closely now that they know we want the same things. If they see us spying on their members, it's going to start a war," Erza said. "And, well, you saw what happened to Jet, Droy, and Levy. She's not okay."

"Yes, and we can't have that with innocent lives on the line."

Gray grasped the edge of the table, his nails digging into the wood as he followed their line of thought. The logic made total sense, and that was what was infuriating about this entire thing. The conclusion hadn't changed at all. He was going to leave this room today just as helpless and worthless as he was when he'd first walked in.

He shook his head and stood from his seat. "I don't care. I'm going to keep looking."

"My advice would be to invest your energy in something more productive, but I'm hardly going to dissuade you," Makarov replied, a heavy sigh following. "Do as you must. Just don't be stupid about it."

Hah, like he was one to go running around town, beating people up until he got answers. "Yeah, yeah, I got it."

Gray had barely gotten two steps out the door when Erza came up beside him. "Hey," she said, her voice loud enough to get him to stop in his tracks. "I know you're trying to help out, but that's not the only thing this is about, is it?"

"Of course not," he replied, his hands curling into fists. "I didn't want anything to do with this mission in the first place. Now I'm in way too deep and I can't do a damn thing."

"You did the right thing."

"I know I did." Gray ran a hand through his hair as he leaned back against the wall. "That doesn't make me feel any better. I did everything I was supposed to, lied to someone who didn't deserve it, and I have nothing to show for it."

"It's true that we might not have found Lucy, but I think you have something to show for it," Erza said.

He snorted. "And what's that?"

"Maybe you can't see it, but I can." The redhead moved around to settle against the wall next to him. "There's no going back. Once you feel something like that, it's part of you. It can be the most wonderful thing in the world or completely destroy you. The best thing you can do is find a balance. Everything right now feels awful, I know, but it's not forever. You just don't know what to do with it."

Gray didn't think of himself as a thick person, but in this case, he had no idea what Erza was getting at. He raised an eyebrow as he glanced at her. "I don't know what to do with what?"

She shrugged, crossing her arms casually. "Think about it. This fixation on controlling what's going on around you—that's not something you would normally do. People act irrationally when their emotions are strong enough."

"This isn't exactly a normal situation."

"I never said it was. All I'm saying is that you never cared this much when Natsu first came back here with that bottle."

He clenched his jaw. Of course he hadn't cared as much back then. The whole thing sounded like a stupid prank when he'd first heard about it, and he would never have doubted that Natsu would fall for literally any prank ever. Really, a message in a bottle? That was completely unorthodox no matter how you looked at it.

But that letter had come with names, many of which he could now match to faces even if he'd never seen them with his own two eyes. These were real people. It made Lucy's plight real, and then he developed a very real relationship with a woman who wasn't even supposed to be talking to him. All of the sudden, there were stakes.

Too bad they were losing at everything.

"Is there a point to this conversation?" he asked irritably. The only thing worse than not being able to do anything was thinking about his part in everything transpired. While Gray wouldn't go back and change any of his actions, it didn't make him dislike them any less.

"Of course. And it'll do more for you than running around aimlessly looking for clues is," she said. "You don't know Lucy. I'm sure you want to help her as much as any of us do, but it's not her you're working so hard for, is it?"

Gray's inclination was to say it was just so that Erza would leave him alone, but that was more likely to land him in the infirmary when he was lying through his teeth and delivering it the most derisive manner possible. Instead, he turned his head away from her. "I don't know what you're insinuating. I've barely known Juvia for a month."

"It's the time spent together that matters," she replied. "You're not going out of your mind for no reason. You feel for her—you feel a lot for her, and pretending that you feel the same way as Natsu isn't going to do you any good."

As much as he absolutely loathed every single word coming out of Erza's mouth, the logical part of him knew that what she was saying wasn't wrong. The women in his guild were like family to him, and he'd known several of them for years, yet he didn't feel for any of them the same way he felt for Juvia. It wasn't as though it was denial; he was very aware of how deep his feelings ran when it came to her, but it wasn't the time or place or—or anything. The circumstances were not appropriate in any way. It was just a waste of time. Their guilds were on opposite sides of a major conflict with innocent lives on the line and even if that weren't the case, Juvia was unlikely to give him the time of day ever again. A violation of trust was hard to come back from for people who actually were friends.

It was just...pointless. There was no use in thinking of her in any other way than the girl from Phantom Lord.

"Yeah," he said, his voice soft, "yeah, I do, but what does it matter?"

Erza was smiling. "That's not easy to come by. You should hold on to it."

He raised an eyebrow at that suggestion, a little incredulous it was something that she of all people was saying. "And how did that work out for you?"

"Horribly," she replied with a sardonic chuckle, "but I don't regret it, and it feels a lot better not to lie about it."

"I wasn't lying about it. It's just...not worth thinking about. I knew the plan from the start was to build a relationship that was destined to fail and I accepted it because I thought I was going to help someone who needed it, but I got shit out of it."

"Your problem is that you're trying to make something out to be nothing," she said.

Pushing off from the wall, he decided he'd had enough of this conversation. His heart was stinging and his head was spinning, so there was no way she was going to convince him that anything positive had come from this. It was Natsu's turn to sit back while Gray raced on at full speed ahead.

"It is nothing," Gray retorted as he opened the entrance to the guild hall. "Unless we can save Lucy, it was all for nothing."

And for the next few days, that feeling didn't go away. Searching for any further leads that wouldn't cause anymore friction with Phantom Lord was like finding a needle in a haystack. Juvia had probably gotten in contact with Bora by now and was simply waiting to meet up with him. Gray was going out of his mind trying to find something that would get him the information he needed.

He just never expected it to turn up on their front doorstep in torn clothes and a sword in hand.

"I need to talk to Natsu Dragneel," she said. "It's about Lucy Heartfilia."

He'd been about to depart on a mission when he was urgently called into the guild by Max. When he was told there was a girl requesting his presence, he undoubtedly had the foolish hope that the girl was Lucy and she'd come looking for him after freeing herself from Bora's captivity. He knew that he would probably never be presented with such a scenario, but he still found himself hoping for that as he walked through the entrance of the guild hall.

Natsu quickly came face-to-face with Gray who looked up from his seat atop one of the nearby tables. The dark circles around his eyes were more prominent than ever and he hadn't even bothered to remove an article of his clothing. Gray looked at bad as Natsu had felt the day Aquarius shown up.

"She's in the infirmary," Gray spoke without prompting. "She'll only speak to you."

No other words were exchanged and Natsu nodded before sprinting towards the infirmary with Happy on his tail. When he finally walked through the door, there was a girl who was waiting for him by one of the beds, but she didn't have blonde hair or blue eyes. Heart sinking a little, he did his best to tamp down his hopes when all he'd been expecting was sitting right in front of him.

This girl had long, dark hair, obviously a bit unruly from whatever journey she'd taken to get here. Her arms looked strong, but her frame was as gaunt as her face. However, the most noticeable thing about her was her eyes. They were piercing, unyielding, as if her spirit would not give up even if her body did.

He was about to introduce himself when she decided to go for the first word. "Who are you?" she demanded, eyes narrowing.

"I'm the one you want to talk to," he replied. Knowing exactly what an attack stance looked like, he decided to stay put instead of getting closer. There was at least a couple of metres between them and she would have to move toward him to strike him in any way. "I'm Natsu."

Her expression was unmoved. "No you're not."

"Yes he is!" Happy chimed in from Natsu's side.

"Natsu's a girl."

"Huh? I'm what?"

"Lucy told me that Natsu is a girl."

The dragon slayer exchanged a look with his friend, completely boggled. How could she not know that he was male? It was generally a fair assumption; Natsu was more commonly a girl's name, but he never used female articles in his letters. Yukino would have noticed if he'd...

The next thought that hit him came with a loud groan. "Yukino..." he said, recalling how the younger girl was the primary writer for whatever message they were going to send back. Natsu's penmanship wasn't great, so of course he relegated the duty to her. He would write down what he wanted to say and then have her copy it onto the actual parchment. Lucy probably thought he was just a girl that spoke in a very masculine way. If—when—they met, it was going to be a very awkward meeting.

"One of my friends helped me write the messages, but I'm Natsu."

"How can I be sure of that?"

Natsu pulled the letter out of his pocket and handed it to her without hesitation. The girl continued to look on in skepticism as she unraveled the paper to read it. It was only a few seconds, but she returned the letter to him before sparing a quick glance at Happy.

"Okay, I believe you. You're Natsu." She seemed to relax a little as she seated herself on the bed she'd been leaning on and nudged her head toward the cat. "But he's not, so he goes."

Natsu was about to protest when Happy piped up himself. "Aye, I'll go..." he said, and then left without another word. To have a best friend like him was a really fortunate thing.

As the door closed behind Happy, the girl stood from the bed. "My name is Kagura. Until only a few days ago, I was captive on a ship run by a mage called Bora. He kidnapped various women and branded them as his own slaves." She lifted the side of the skirt she was wearing for a second to reveal a dark skull seared into her skin without blinking. "Lucy was another person on this ship. She told me that Natsu of Fairy Tail could track Bora's ship if there was a strong enough magical signal, so I came here."

"Yeah, there's...someone here who can," he answered, a little astonished. His original fantasy hadn't come to life, but something as fortunate as this wasn't exactly on his radar either. "But if you were on that ship too, then why are you here and Lucy's not?"

"I was sold into slavery by Bora and escaped my captor." The way she spoke of it almost sounded as if she was completely apathetic to the entire experience. "I headed here as soon as I could. The last time I saw Lucy...she wasn't doing well. I'm not sure how much longer she can survive on that ship."

Natsu clenched his jaw. "We've been trying everything we can to find it, but..."

"That's why I'm here," Kagura said as she held out her hand. In her palm was a fragment of some sort of gem. "When I was still on the ship, Lucy told me you would be able to find us if there was an identifiable magical signal coming from there, so I got one for you. It took some extreme measures, but this is a piece of the Lacrima on Bora's ship. Is it enough for what you need?"

He accepted the small piece of crystal from her, bringing it to eye-level to examine it more closely. It was definitely part of a bigger Lacrima; that much he could tell, but there was no way of knowing whether Levy could track a magical energy source from something so small unless she tried. If she couldn't...well, she had to.

"There are more girls on that ship than just Lucy. Is it enough?" she asked again.

They were on the brink of war with Phantom Lord with no other leads and then this girl who'd escaped Hell dropped them this lifeline. Natsu would make sure it was enough.

He clutched the Lacrima fragment in his palm. "Yeah, it's enough."

She spent three days trapped inside the Closet. The guards opened the door for her only three times each day; once to give her meager meal and twice to bring her to the washroom. She did not cooperate when it came to doing any of those things. Lucy wasn't trying to kill herself, but she was past the point of letting Bora have his way. He wanted to keep her alive for his own selfish reasons and she would rather die if it meant him losing. Maybe soon he would try to sedate her, break her down like he had Fumiko, but she had watched her only friend on this ship be sold as a slave—as a piece of property—into another life she might never escape from. Lucy wasn't even sure she could break any further.

When she was brought back to her room, the natural light stung her eyes. She resigned herself to her mattress and silently seethed as she stared at the empty one across from hers, Nikora tightly clutched in one hand. There was no way to win anymore. She couldn't do this without Kagura and Natsu had no hope of finding her. She was just a product to him, his brand burned onto her hip. Lucy wanted desperately to scratch it off. If she was heading out, it was going to be on her own terms.

Lucy was completely passed out for several hours, feeling groggy when she was woken by the door slamming open. "All of you up! Now!" the guard yelled as he banged on the walls. She rolled over in response and let her eyes open to the light of the early morning, but didn't bother to get off her mattress.

"Holy crap, we're getting up! Just shut up!" she heard Arisa say. "You bitches better move right now, 'cause I'm way too tired to deal with him stomping around here!"

To be rebellious here seemed more like it would just annoy the guard, so Lucy chose to listen. She was not going to waste whatever life she had left on a petty act on some nameless henchman; she was going to use it on a petty act against Bora.

Not for the first time, Lucy thought about how strange it felt when the three of them left the room. Three, not four like it had been just a few days ago. She fervently hoped that Kagura was okay as they were escorted into Bora's entertainment room. Things appeared even more strange when she realized that every female on the ship had been gathered in this room and none of them had been tasked with serving the captain.

The guard shoved her in line with the other girls. It was the worst case of deja vu, except this time, there was no fear at all. Bora was standing mere meters away from her, fuming if she had to guess. Lucy was tempted to just throttle him and see how much pain she could inflict before they put her out of her misery, but that wouldn't be satisfying given how exhausted she was already.

"Does anyone know what this is?" Bora asked as he held up a small, folded piece of paper, staring down each one of them. "Anyone? Hm?"

Lucy only needed a second to realize that she did, in fact, know what it was. That was one of the small pieces of stationery Natsu and Yukino wrote to her with. Suddenly, it dawned on her that she had never read the message Bora was holding in his hand, because she'd lost it in Elsie's dressing room prior to the slave sale. Well, it'd been a few days since then, but clearly someone found it and Bora wasn't too happy about it.

"You see, there's a nice little message on this piece of paper for one of you, or from one of you," he continued when none of the girls spoke. "Maybe a couple of you thought you would just have a little fun, hm? Is that right?" His boots thumped against the floorboards as he paced back and forth. It was an intimidation tactic that was clearly working on a few of the girls. "Well, that wouldn't be so bad. I can understand. All girls need to have some fun. The problem is, I don't know if this note is just for 'a little fun' or not. How could I? After all, I don't know who wrote it. More importantly, I don't know how someone wrote it."

Of course he didn't. She was usually so careful to leave no trace behind that there was any contact whatsoever from the outside world.

"I'm not mad, and I won't be if the person who received this message just comes forward," Bora said. The compassion in his voice was so staged he should've saved it for the theatre.

He ceased his pacing to stare them down, silence overtaking the room. Seconds passed, and then another minute before Bora stormed over to the table next to his chair and swept his arm across the surface. Three dirty wine glasses shattered on the floor, a few of the girls jumping at the noise.

"One of you..." he began lowly, "had better speak up!" He punctuated this by slamming his foot into the table, sending it crashing into the wall. "RIGHT NOW! Do you think I'm going to be nice forever?"

Bora flung his chair over, snarling as he looked for the next nearest object to destroy, which just so happened to be his contact Lacrima. It whizzed right by the head of one of his guards and smashed against the wall. Moving over to the mounted shelves, he continued his tantrum. A roar burst from his throat as he tore down their middle, leaving some of the objects to clatter to the ground. Others he picked up himself to hurl around the room in a further expression of rage.

He was screaming, throwing a tantrum so thoroughly that even his henchmen seemed a little unsettled. Once everything within his reach was broken, Lucy saw fire licking at his fingertips.

A giggle bubbled in her throat, then progressed into full blown laughter. All eyes landed on her as she descended almost into hysterics. It was just so damn hilarious! What did he plan on doing? Setting the boat on fire while he was on it? How funny that all she'd had to do this entire time was actually reveal to Bora that there was conspiracy afoot to make him fly off the handle. She wondered how he must feel to be so thoughtless and full of devastating rage—desperate to change things.

She wondered how he must feel to finally be the one with no control.

"Do you have something to say?" Bora demanded.

The last vestiges of Lucy's laughter faded until only a smile remained upon her face. Bora looked like he was likely to use the magic on his hand to set her aflame any minute. But that didn't matter, because his eyes were where she wanted them to be. She wanted him to know the person who'd made him feel that way.

"Yes," she said, meeting his eyes defiantly. "You want to know what's been going on? If there's someone who's been plotting against you? Well, yes, yes there is. It's me."

Chapter Text

Laughter. Wine. Glasses on the floor.

In the moment, she feels nothing but satisfaction in the way he's looking at her. Bewildered? No, that isn't right. Nonplussed? Probably a bit of an understatement. It's likely more of a mixture irrepressible rage and utter disbelief.

It's only been a few seconds since the words left her mouth and she can see the gears in his mind turning. He knows what it meant, but he doesn't really understand the implications of all of it yet. When he does, she wonders what his reaction will be. He's always been short-tempered and he's already at the end of his wits. Maybe he'll lock her back into the Closet with no food for days. Maybe he'll drug her and pass her around his crew members. Or maybe he'll finally break and put her out of her misery.

She gains no further insight into what it will be as he approaches her in silence. The girls around her are trembling, she thinks, but she is immovable. His eyes are ablaze. He's trying to intimidate her, but she will not be scared. Not anymore.

"You..." he starts in a low growl.

He lifts his hand, flames still dancing on his fingertips. This is it. This is meant to be her end. She has fought for so long and now she'll go out on her own terms. So many times she has closed her eyes on this ship, waiting for her fate to befall her. One last time...

It doesn't come. Instead, her eyes shoot open when the ship rocks violently. A girl crashes into her and she falls into another. They're all a pile on the floor, including him and all his henchmen. The rocking doesn't stop after a minute, or two, or even ten and she loses track of the time when she's addled with dizziness and the vague feeling of nausea.

She closes her eyes. Maybe the fates have something else in store for her.

Wind and salt. And rain. Lots and lots of rain. A storm was brewing and it was of her own doing.

Juvia stood at the edge of the dock, staring across the horizon at the tiny speck that carried the man she'd been infatuated with. The rest of the harbour had been cleared out as a result of the violent weather. Instead, several members of Phantom Lord took over the area. Element 4 had been assembled and her teammates would be mobilizing along with all the other guild members to deliver their target back to her father. This was a mission that could absolutely not fail. Jose would not stand for it.

But the person standing next to her? The one who would be primarily responsible for Lucy's transfer? It was Gajeel. She knew it had more to do with his duty to their guild than anything, but Juvia still felt grateful to have him right there beside her. He was her support before the battle.

"You ready?" he asked her over the howling wind. The man was drenched, but he scarcely looked as though he even felt it on his skin.

She nodded. "Yes."

Needing no further prompting, Juvia focused on the ship she could barely see. As she internally apologized to the women on board, she raised her arms before sweeping them behind her. The speck began growing at an alarming rate and Juvia felt Gajeel tense beside her. She forced the ship to stop right in front of the dock. With another touch of her magic, the engines were destroyed. Gajeel jumped aboard the ship, dismantling all the crew members on the deck with Juvia following closely behind with the assistance of the ocean water.

Her heart beat wildly as the door to the interior of the ship swung open in the chaos. Bora was not the first one to exit, nor the second, third, or fourth. She knocked them all aside until the person she wanted appeared in front of her. His eyes were wide with recognition, his cloak wrinkled and hair disheveled, presumably from being tossed around the interior during her seizure of the ship.

"Juvia, you..." Bora growled, his expression darkening.

"Gajeel-kun, retrieve the target," she said, voice stone cold.

Bora's eyes left her for a moment to settle on her teammate, a flame starting to develop in the palm of his hand. She would not allow it. If there was one thing Juvia was confident in, it was her magic. Rain curled around the appendage to douse the fire and it had the desired response. Gajeel shoved him aside with no further issue as Juvia took a deep breath.

Wind and salt and rain. Confidence, Juvia.

"You're the one that did all this?" he asked. "You never had any intention of honouring our agreement, did you? How far you've fallen."

"You would try to turn this on to Juvia?" she shot back incredulously. "You've been kidnapping women for the last six months using illegal magic! There is nothing lower!"

Her words seemed to bounce off him as easily as the rain did. "To think after everything I did for you, you'd betray me like this."

"No," she said as she shook her head, "I'm just now seeing who you really are, and what our relationship really meant to you. There was no betrayal, and Juvia is done listening to you."

It took little to no effort to blast him off his feet. He slammed into the wall of the deckhouse, slumping to the ground. Bora lifted his head to glare at her through the rain.

"How dare you... Nobody else wanted you and I stayed with you."

Juvia was about to reply when a whip of fire came lashing at her. Typical. Bora was underestimating her because he thought she was weak. In his eyes, she was just the doormat she'd allowed herself to be for so long. Unfortunately for him, she was no longer a doormat to be stepped on. When the blast of fire went right through her face, there was only steam where he'd expected pain. His obvious astonishment said it all.

"You didn't know Juvia could do that, did you?" As the water mage took a step forward, the horror on Bora's face grew. "Because Bora-san doesn't know anything real about Juvia."

Pride quickly outweighed his fear. "I know that nobody will ever love such a troublesome woman," he spat in the face of his inevitable demise. "You're a walking raincloud. A personification of misery."

It was the worst thing anyone could've ever said to Juvia, clawing at her deepest insecurities and a reminder of everything she hated about herself. Yet, to her surprise, the words didn't hurt like she thought they would. Maybe because for once, she knew they weren't true.

"I am not misery," she said with conviction as she lifted her hand. "I control the rain; it does not control me." Her hand closed into a fist and the rain stopped, forming beads around them. "And I know the person who will find love for this troublesome woman."

He wasn't even scared anymore; there was only awe at the complete power she held over the surrounding elements. Juvia folded an arm across her body, ready to put his comments to rest once and for all. "Me!"

Water was sucked from the air and a furious attack was unleashed upon Bora, launching him straight through the deckhouse and out the other side. A splash was audible and Juvia was satisfied that he had joined the rest of his despicable crew members floating around in a world of pain. Turning around, Gajeel had torn a hole in the side of the ship and bent one of the metal sheets into a ramp for the hostages to exit from. Wonderful. Even if Jose didn't care about any of those girls besides their target, at least Juvia had been able to rectify a horrible situation caused by a man she'd supported for months.

There was a female with blonde hair—probably Heartfilia—being dragged off the boat by Gajeel when he turned and looked her way. As their eyes met, he nodded toward the sky. Puzzled, Juvia glanced skyward, expecting an enemy approach or something of the sort, but it was clear.

It was...clear?

She was speechless when she looked back at Gajeel, who only offered a smirk before he continued down the ramp. Lifting her head again, Juvia checked for signs that this wasn't real. Instead, she got the opposite.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Natsu spilled the contents of his lunch out of the window for the second time that afternoon. He hated it, but for once he didn't complain. A shard of lacrima barely a quarter of the size of his pinky finger had somehow made all the difference in the world and now they were on the train to Hargeon to rescue Lucy.

He wiped his mouth on his sleeve before situating himself in the normal position of a person that wasn't dying. Yukino was sitting beside him and Happy, silently fiddling with Lucy's keys as she stared at the floor. As quiet and well-behaved as she was, even she could barely hide her restlessness. Across from her was Erza, whose eyes had closed about two minutes after she'd finished lecturing all of them about acting sensibly due to the importance of their mission. There had been an emotional reunion between her and Kagura the day prior as it had turned out they'd known each other during their childhoods. Erza had entered her current quiet, pensive state ever since Kagura had inquired rather viciously about a Simon. Nobody had offered up any information about that sensitive subject. Fortunately, Kagura had remained behind to recover further and that awkward situation could at least be avoided for a little longer.

Meanwhile, the most visibly anxious of them all had to be Gray. The guy had wiggled out of his jacket before the train had even left the station. Since then, both his shoes had somehow disappeared and his shirt was halfway off his body. If that wasn't a strong enough sign of his anxiety, then the incessant bouncing of his knee definitely did. It certainly wasn't doing Natsu any favours.

Still, the fact that Gray was going so absolutely out of his mind in this situation offered him a sense of comfort. Lucy was in good hands. They were going to give her back her freedom.

Time seemed to drag on until they finally pulled into the train station in Hargeon. Max, Cana, Elfman, Makarov, and Laxus, along with his entire team, disembarked from another car and Fairy Tail gathered to head for the docks. For once, their guild didn't make a ruckus as they were passing through. It was too early in the morning and everyone was focused—either on saving Lucy or getting even with Phantom Lord.

They were a menacing group as they walked through the town, civilians quietly eying them while they passed through. Natsu was confident they could confront whatever came their way from that ship. But it wasn't a ship that was waiting for them at the dock; instead, there were four members of Phantom Lord waiting for them there.

"Ah, so ze Fairies have arrived," the man in the brown suit said, adjusting his monocle. "Bien, bien, I zink it iz time to pluck zeir wings."

"I know you will fight, and I know it will be futile," said the samurai with black and white hair.

"Your fall will be such a tragedy, but it must be done," added the towering male next to him in a somber voice.

Finally, a woman with blue hair, probably Juvia Lockser, stepped forward with a steely look on her face. "We will not allow you to pass, Fairy Tail."

Natsu ignored them, his eyes fixed on the twisted heap of metal behind the group. It certainly resembled a ship, probably the one he'd once been so close to finding, but there was a gaping hole in the deck house which was now falling in on itself, and the left side of the ship had practically been ripped bare of its metal sheathe. The damage had resulted in the lopsided mess that was barely floating behind Phantom Lord. "Where's Lucy?"

"Safe, and on her way home where she belongs," Juvia answered, leaving no room for questions. "This is what's best for her. Do you not want that?"

"It's not-"

"It's not what's best for her." Natsu's head swung around to see Gray moving ahead of their own guild. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. I don't know what her father's paying you, but he's not where it's safe for her."

"You would tear a family apart instead of reuniting them?" she asked somewhat incredulously. "Even knowing the truth, Juvia did not think Gray-sama this cruel."

His voice was weaker than Natsu had ever heard it. "Just this last time… I'm asking you to trust me."

There was a long silence. "You know I can't do that."

Natsu effectively stopped listening, glancing urgently at Erza. "We need to go after them," he said, his hands curling into fists.

"Gray, Laxus, Cana, and I will stay back to hold them off. You go after them with everyone else. We don't know how much firepower Phantom Lord has brought with them," she replied, eyes still trained on their opponents.

"Come on." Max placed a hand on his shoulder and nudged his head back the way they'd come. "They're guaranteed to be on one of the Konzern trains. I can't take everyone, but a few of us can slow them down long enough to catch up."

Nodding, the majority of the group turned to head away from the dock when a looming shadow appeared over them. Natsu looked up to see a massive wave building above them, threatening to wash them away.

"Don't underestimate us, Fairy Tail! We are Phantom Lord's most powerful team, the Element 4, and our Master has entrusted us with the duty to keep you from interfering with our mission!" the samurai announced as he drew his sword, but he wasn't nearly as menacing as Juvia's very imminent magic.

The Element 4 definitely weren't messing around. Whatever Juvia and Gray's relationship was, the glare on her face very clearly showed that it wouldn't be a factor in her attack. Natsu knew he was not the smartest person, but he'd always been good at thinking on his feet when it came to situations in combat. This time? Using fire in any way, shape, or form would result in a lot of steam and nothing more.

The wave grew steadily closer. Well shit, he would punch through this stupid thing if it meant getting his closer to Lucy!

Fortunately, it didn't come to that as Makarov moved in front of all of them, glancing over his shoulder with a meaningful look. "Get moving!"

For a second, Natsu stopped to wonder how the heck their Master was going to face down that wave, but then he realized it didn't really matter. While he might have developed a silly level of mistrust for Gray at some point due to their rivalry, he had nothing but respect for their Master. His eyes locked with Max's in silent understanding and they both broke into a sprint away from the harbour, Happy flying alongside them. Max was gathering sand at his fingertips as he ran until it began to swirl beneath him like a storm. Natsu stumbled as the sediment lifted him off the ground as well, carrying him forward with Yukino not far behind. No longer needing to run, he looked back to see everyone else following on foot, and, back at the harbour, a giant figure rising before Erza's group.

Sinewy muscle covered Makarov's body as it grew taller and taller until his head towered above the wave. Then the water finally descended, the devastating effects it would have had crashing upon their guild master's back as if someone was giving him a nice bath.

As they got further away, the view in the distance shrank along with their Master's body. Natsu turned his gaze forward, eyes settling on the train tracks coming into view. Phantom Lord had started out with the upper hand, but they wouldn't have it for much longer. His friends had done their part and he would do his.

A new leash. That was all this was.

Lucy eyed her keeper warily, wondering when the train would stop and she would have to face down the very person she'd been trying to escape from in the first place. There were multiple times when she wondered if she could reason with this man despite his unruly appearance, but he hardly seemed like the talkative type. He'd barely looked at her twice since they'd gotten on the train and a bunch more of his comrades were scattered amongst the train cars behind them.

Then again, he hadn't just taken her from the ship; he'd led all of them from it after ripping a massive hole in the haul. After that, some of his comrades were instructed to take the girls to the nearest medical center. They left no one behind, even the girls that couldn't walk from all they sedatives they'd been given and the girls brainwashed enough to not want to leave (Arisa). So… he couldn't be completely terrible. He seemed to be doing more than anyone had for them in months.

What was she even doing here? One moment Lucy had been facing down her captor, certain that her last breath had been drawn, and the next she was falling off her feet as the ship rocked violently. Now she was... rescued?

Rescued, but not rescued, because she was the only one who'd been taken to this train. She had never been the strongest or most athletic person, but she was smart enough to know what this meant.

"My father must have put you up to this," Lucy said as she picked at the peeling brown leather of her seat. The material had cracked from years of wear, webbing out across the bench like shattering glass. If he had so much money, why couldn't her father keep the seats intact? "Even if you're only here because he was paying you, I'm grateful that you helped the others to."

The man with wild hair and studs on his face was staring out the window, but he lazily threw his head back to look at her. Half a year ago, that face might have terrified her; now Lucy understood that regardless of the exterior, he was as capable of hurting her as any other person.

"...I'm just here to take you home," he replied after a few moments, his tone carefully neutral.

She spotted the guild mark on this shoulder, a symbol that almost appeared to her like a devil with a tail.

"You're from a guild, right?" Lucy asked. "Is it a good one?"

"Of course it's good," the man answered a bit defensively, this time sounding annoyed.

Lucy smiled at his insistence. "I wanted to be part of a guild once." The bitterness of the time and freedom that had been stolen from her was all gone. She could get dragged home kicking and screaming, but that was pointless when it didn't change the endgame. She was tired and weak and had a single key tucked into her bra with a spirit who she loved, but was helpless to do much at the moment. "You get a mark to show which guild you're a part of and that's what I wanted more than anything, but I got a one I didn't want, and I can never erase it."

Her captor (rescuer?) eyed her, seemingly a little puzzled by her dour mood. "You're pretty glum for someone who's headed home."

Of course her father would never tell the people he hired what their relationship was actually like. To him, Lucy was nothing more than another piece of property. "That place hasn't been home to me in a long time."

His lip twitched in displeasure, but if he had anything to say, he kept it to himself. Lucy didn't blame him. He was only here to do a job, and if anything, it was already kind of nice that his face turned out so much scarier than his actual personality.

An alarming shriek of metal from the train abruptly brought their attention away from the despondent conversation. The studded man nearly tore the adjacent window off the car as he whipped it open, cursing under his breath as he stuck his head out the window. Lucy leaned as far as she could against the wall of the train, trying to peek past his head to get a look of her own. The sound was getting worse as the seconds ticked by and now she understood why.

Tendrils of sand were running up the sides of the train cars, wrapping them like a snake around its prey. More importantly, it was getting between the wheels and the track, causing the horrible shrieking noise to worsen the more the train was overtaken. If they hadn't started slowing down yet, they would as soon as it reached their car.

"W-what's going on?" Lucy asked, not quite making sense of the situation.

"There's another guild after you," he said as he slammed the window shut, looking none too happy. "The others were supposed to hold them off if they showed up, but I guess even Fairies can put up a fight."

Fairies? She froze. There was no way...after all this time… Natsu…?

Before Lucy could decide whether or not she believed the person responsible for this was the one she'd been writing to in her letters, the man with the scary face had travelled to the back of the car and was opening the door. Her mouth was part way open to ask what he planned to do when his right forearm suddenly morphed into a metal mallet of some sort. The words on her tongue died completely when he viciously brought it down on the car coupling and sent her careening forward onto the seat he'd previously occupied.

It was impossible to tell what was happening. Outside, the wheels continued to wail while sand began to cover the window next to her. The man with the scary face hammered at the coupling again and this time, Lucy fell onto the floor as the structure shook. She was wondering if there was a limit to her bad luck as she grasped around for a vice of any sort. It was for naught because the third time his hammer-arm came down, it broke the coupling and the car screeched to freedom.

Scary-faced man shut the door behind him, re-entering the car and heading for the one on the opposite side. They were already picking up speed again, but Lucy assumed he was going to find the conductor to get things moving further. He didn't even get halfway there.

Lucy screamed, covering her head from her spot on the floor between the seats as something crashed through the roof. Her eyes were squeezed shut, but the scent of charred wood filled her nostrils. It was suddenly so hot. Heat curled over her shoulders and legs with such ferocity that she thought her eyeballs would literally melt out of her head.

When the worst of it was over, she chanced a look at the anomaly that had overtaken their train car. Through cracked lids, she was confronted by a scene she could only have only imagined in storybooks.

Among the flames, she saw white scales and glowing red eyes. She could have sworn she heard a growl, deep and rumbling like one could only expect from a beast. A quick blink and shake of her head didn't change anything; the awesome sight before her was every bit as real as the heat on her skin, but she still didn't believe it.

Because standing in front of her, enclosed in flames, was a dragon.

Chapter Text

It only took seconds for them to react once they realized their Master had shrunk down to normal size again-and not by choice. The blindfolded Phantom Lord member, imposing with his towering figure even in the absence of magic, was standing behind Makarov with his hand stretched forward. Laxus was practically radiating electricity only steps away.

Gray could tell Juvia was slightly winded from controlling a wave that size, but she was already preparing her next attack. Scrambling to stop her, he created a dome of ice around her to buy some time. He needed to get closer to her while his guildmates were occupying the other members of the Element 4.

He flinched as a sword nearly came down and sliced him down the side, but Erza had his back. She appeared beside him to block the blow with her own blade. Laxus, who would be by far the most useful in a fight against Juvia, was engaged in a fight with the largest member of the Element 4 in protection of his grandfather and Cana was busy with that annoying guy with the accent. As he'd predicted, cracks began forming in the dome as quickly as he'd made it.

Gray slammed the side of his fist against his palm as he sprinted forward. Cracks had completely overtaken the ice now and it didn't take a genius to realize it wasn't going to last. Stopping abruptly, just before it burst, he pressed his hands on the ground to make a wall, which successfully redirected the rush of water. However, his one triumph didn't last long. A piercing jet of water sliced his wall clean in half, the top piece crashing into the ground after sliding off its perch.

His eyes met Juvia's, solid black cold and hard, lacking their usual warmth and desire for affection. They would fight until one or both of them couldn't get back up. He should have known this would be the outcome the moment they'd met.

He'd experienced enough of her magic to know that she had the upper hand physically (which had sort of a silver lining; he really didn't think he could stomach punching her in the face), but he had to try to match her somehow. With her body's properties, his usual strategy wasn't going to work.

Knowing that didn't do him any good when she was so quick to make her next move. Before he could even think about what he might want to do, jets of water were already headed his way and there was nowhere to run.

"Ice make: Shield!" Gray threw the magic forward just as hers reached him, but it had only cut the effectiveness of her attack in half. The water absolutely shredded the shield and he grunted as shallow lacerations formed all over his body.

Juvia really wasn't pulling any punches. She was already preparing another strike as his brain flew through strategies amongst the fog of stinging pain. If physical attacks weren't going to work, he was going to have to counter with magic. A twisted blast of water came at him and this time, he stood his ground. Maybe it was time to take something out of Natsu's playbook.

Her water could pierce his ice, so all he had to do was prevent that possibility. Gray braced himself as the blast reached his hands and froze it before it could hit him. He caught a glimpse of her face, her wide eyes indicating that he was definitely onto something here. As an S-class mage of a rather reputable guild, it was possible she'd never seen someone stop her attack before.

"You… You froze my water…?" Juvia's voice trembled in quiet disbelief. "No matter. Juvia will not allow it to happen a second time."

She might not allow it, but it was the only way he was going to beat her. The next water blast wasn't as easy to counter as the first, flinching as the spray scalded him when he faced it head on, but that just meant he needed to make it colder.

When the water shattered into thousands of cold, icy shards, Juvia looked livid. Wisps of steam rolled off her shoulders, curling away into the air. It was an aspect of her magic that he hadn't witnessed before. Her emotions were running wild and that was fueling the heat literally radiating from her body. It was impressive, really. The water she conjured had to be boiling temperature, but she managed to keep it from evaporating. She really was something else…

However, it certainly wasn't the right moment to be marveling at her talent as a mage. A failure to freeze her attack resulted in a burn on the side of his arm and he grimaced. It wasn't enough.

This wasn't just a fight for her, he realized. Juvia had been lied to so many times by both him and the man she thought she loved. Realistically, he knew it was kind of ridiculous that she didn't hate his guts right now, and given the state of the slave ship slowly washing its way out of the harbour as it took on water, Gray couldn't confidently say her (ex?) boyfriend had received quite the same fortune when it came to her. Before, she'd been putting her heart before her guild, but now things had changed. This battle was about her pride as a mage of Phantom Lord and proof of her strength. The truth had not torn her down and neither would he.

But the last thing Gray wanted to do was tear her down. Especially now, with their guilds at odds, all he wanted to do was get her to understand. Words were futile when she wouldn't listen. If he wanted to get through to her, he had to match her resolve.

Determined to get on the offensive, he channeled his magic into his fingertips as he advanced. Juvia challenged him every step of the way. Bullets of water were transformed into harmless flakes of ice until he was standing barely an arm's length before her. He was close now and she was all too aware of that. He spotted his opening and went for it.

Gray knew she didn't have to lift a finger to use her magic effectively, so when she held her hand forward, it meant she was serious about ending this. He gritted his teeth as he took her attack head on, pressing on even when the impact knocked the wind out of him. It was harder than any punch he'd ever sustained and he was almost certain he felt a couple of his ribs break, but he found his target in his grasp and held on tight with both hands.

After all this time, it was the first time he'd ever touched her. Her hands were in his own and the contact was different from anything he'd ever experienced with another person. Gray could feel the magic thrumming at the surface of her skin and through every vein and muscle of her body. He had known that her water magic was a part of her, but to actually feel it himself was something else entirely. His magic was drawn to hers like a magnet. Ice was enveloping her hands and arms and he could feel her trying to pull away, but his freezing her seemed to be disrupting her ability to phase. The need to make her understand surpassed his desire not to hurt her and he pressed on, freezing every last bit of magic he could feel in her.

And then her magic spiked, shattering the ice and his hold on her. Juvia shoved him away with every last bit of strength she had and stumbled back. Her legs trembled for a second before they gave out, hands and knees hitting the ground. The pain of his broken ribs wouldn't allow Gray to stay upright either, but even on his ass, he readied himself to cast something in self-defense. It didn't take long for him to realize that there would be no retaliation.

Magic was complex and he could hardly claim to know the ins and outs of every mage's powers, especially when it was combined for the first time with someone else's, but as he observed Juvia's ragged breathing and shaking body, it became clear that her desperate move to break away from him had also been extremely costly. Ending the attack in the exact same way he would've had resulted in the direct blow she'd been trying to avoid in the first place. Juvia cradled her arms, sitting up with her legs tucked to the side.

"I...lost…?" she asked, but it didn't seem to be directed at anyone in particular.

"For your guild, maybe," Gray said sympathetically, wincing as he tried to maneuver into a more comfortable position. "You might not understand it yet, but this is for the best."

"If Gray-san can be believed? Juvia doesn't know," she replied. "But I believe Gray-san is doing what he thinks is best. I only hope it's the truth."

He let himself have a moment as he closed his eyes in relief. She understood. With Erza already having dismantled her opponent nearby, Laxus getting sufficient revenge for his grandfather (regardless of how much he pretended not to care), and Cana closing up her own fight, Phantom Lord was no longer a threat to them over here.

A thought hit him as he held his abdomen. "Hey… Why isn't it raining? Did you do that?"

Juvia smiled wearily. "Yes."

He smirked a little. It was all he could've hoped for when it came to her. As for Lucy? That was up to Natsu.

He crashed through the roof of the car in a blaze with Happy and Yukino right behind him, ready to fight whoever was in his way. Thanks to Max, who was still up top to sneak over to the other cart, he and Yukino had managed to catch up to the ones that had been separated. He only had a vague idea of what Lucy looked like based on her own description of herself, but the fact that someone cared enough to keep this car going practically guaranteed she was on here. His eyes landed on long black hair and a sharp visage that only confirmed this belief. He knew right away that this was a fight waiting to happen.

The floor rumbled beneath his feet as Natsu took a deep whiff of his surroundings. Just as he recognized the man in front of him had the same scent as the person who'd assaulted Team Shadow Gear, his stomach churned.

"You Fairies just don't learn," the Phantom Lord mage said as he cracked his knuckles.

Beside him, Yukino was ready to engage, but his mind had shifted away from the battle. Everything was moving too much. His head was spinning and the pounding of his heart that had previously been from adrenaline was now manifesting itself as a result of nausea. His breakfast was quickly coming back up and he needed to get to a washroom right now. Was there even a washroom in here? He didn't know, but there was a window behind the scary-faced guy which would work just as well.

"Oh no," Happy commented as he tugged at Natsu's ankle, likely thinking the same thing about where he should go.

Natsu held his stomach and waddled toward his destination, ignoring the dumbfounded stare of his opponent as he approached. He didn't have time to deal with this guy when everything was getting worse. The sweating, the sick feeling, the bile rising in his throat… Hitting the obstacle in front of him, he knew he wasn't going to make it.

The Phantom Lord mage was still in a combat stance when he looked down at Natsu who had stilled after smacking into his chest. "What the fuck is this…?"

Inevitably, it all came to a head.

There was vomit, and there was lots of it. Whatever he hadn't thrown up earlier landed all over the man he was supposed to be beating up and there was a moment he was heaving with relief before his stomach seemed to groan again. The second wave hit with much more force, but the degree of relief wasn't interrupted this time. While he still felt horrible, there was nothing left in his stomach to expel. Next was air. He needed air.

He stumbled the rest of the way to the window and hung his head out, basking in the feel of the wind. The train felt like it was slowing down, but the movement was persistent nonetheless.

"What the fuck is this?"

Right, right, he had to fight this guy. Natsu retracted his head and slowly turned around as he wiped his mouth on his arm. The Phantom Lord mage's chest was dripping with barf and both the sight and smell were not helping Natsu's motion sickness. Happy had climbed onto one of the seats and was rubbing soothing circles on his back.

"It's okay, Natsu-nii. I can handle this," Yukino assured him from nearby.

The man had a bewildered look on his face. "First you puke on me and now you send a little girl to fight me?"

Though the question had been directed at Natsu, Yukino was the one who answered. "I'm more than enough to defeat you."

"He's…" Natsu croaked, "...Levy…"

A brief look of realization crossed her face, head swiveling between Natsu and the other man rapidly. "So you're the one who hurt Levy-san, Jet-san, and Droy-san. Gajeel Redfox, the Iron Dragon Slayer."

"Guessing the message wasn't well-received," Gajeel snorted as he discarded his soiled top. "Fine, kid. If you wanna get involved, you won't be much better off than your friends."

True to his reputation, he didn't seem to care that Yukino was only a child-a full-fledged mage, of course, but she was a child, nonetheless. As Gajeel flew at her, she moved with a self-assured grace. She ducked under a swipe of his arm, which had essentially turned into a sword, and slid a ways behind him, then held the key in her hand forward.

"Open, Gate of the Lion, Leo!" Her commanding voice rang out through the train car, almost as if she were calling on the Gods themselves. As she turned her wrist, a palpable energy filled the air. A small, swirling cloud formed in front of Yukino and grew like a brewing storm.

Natsu tried to shout a warning as Gajeel decided he wasn't going to wait around to find out what Yukino had done, but just barely managed to swallow another bout of bile. Instead, he had to watch their enemy charge back at her with his mouth firmly shut. Luckily, Yukino wasn't to be underestimated and Gajeel was held back by the new figure that appeared.

Celestial spirit-turned-member-of-Fairy-Tail Loke stood in front of Yukino, bracing the dragon slayer by the forearms. Natsu was still getting used to his friend's appearance as a spirit, his orange hair longer and clothing classy and formal. The main change, however, was Loke's strength. Ever since he'd returned to the Spirit Realm, the right energy had allowed his power to flourish.

"You won't harm my princess," Loke growled as he pushed the other man back.

Gajeel grinned, evidently eager to have the challenge of a new opponent. "Finally someone who's actually gonna put up a fight?"

"I'll gladly give you what you're asking for, though you could've at least done me the courtesy of showering first," the spirit replied. He placed a hand on the bicep of his other arm, glancing at Yukino from his periphery. She nodded and he began to glow, eyes back on Gajeel. "Let's go."

Gajeel made the first move, but Loke easily dodged his blow. It quickly became clear that the Iron Dragon Slayer had the advantage when it came to brute strength as Loke was being pushed back. He seemed to recognize this and his glow intensified, a burst of energy suddenly allowing him to surge forward and land a hit on Gajeel's chest. If it hurt, it didn't show on his face. In fact, the man was grinning.

Things only got more heated, but it was horrible for Natsu. Every time someone slammed into a wall or missed and hit it, the car viciously rocked and sent him hurtling back into a fit of nausea. A quick glance out the window told him they were slowing down, but he was helpless to watch from the sidelines until he didn't feel like he was going to throw up every five seconds. He looked around through hazy vision, spotting Yukino preparing a spell.

She was chanting quietly to herself with her eyes closed, Loke shielding her from all harm. When they opened, power surged around her. She gathered her hands forward and several small circular portals began to form around Gajeel. "Meteorum Leonid!"

He was almost instantly pelted with large meteors, but managed to impressively rip one the benches from the ground to block the worst of the spell. Unfortunately, as intuitive as Yukino was, she hadn't thought through the idea of using some of her most destructive magic in a tiny train car and the whole thing went careening sideways. In the haze of his sickness, Natsu saw her eyes widen in realization just as Loke wrapped her in the safety of his body. He was momentarily relieved until he spotted someone else in the train car.

The sickness was put on hold and his stomach dropped for a different reason entirely.

Lucy…?

The clarity he felt in that moment came abruptly. She was curled up behind one of the benches, sliding into view as their surroundings shifted. Her blonde hair was tangled and messy and there was dirt on her skinny arms and legs, but he knew. Phantom Lord wanted her and Gajeel had her. She was all skin and bones-there was no way she could protect herself like this.

Natsu threw himself over her, holding her tight against his chest as his shoulder crashed painfully into one of the benches. He was thrown hard against surfaces twice more with wood and metal cutting into his flesh. When something sharp tore through the junction between his chest and shoulder, he pulled the girl closer before everything finally stopped moving. The stillness took a second to sink in, then he opened his eyes.

The train was in utter disarray. The walls were dented like paper that had been crumpled and unravelled again. Two of the benches that had been anchored on to the floor had been uprooted, with one of them lying on top of Loke. Glass was shattered everywhere, shards mixed into his hair and glistening from where sunlight was hitting them on the floor. Natsu gritted his teeth as he looked down the long, jagged piece of wood impaling him. It had narrowly missed his lung, and it might have even killed him if it had landed another couple of inches to the right.

On the other hand, the precious cargo seemed okay. He had absorbed pretty much anything that could have damaged her upper body, and his legs felt fine save for a few scratches, so he felt confident the rest of her was all right too. With her face buried in his chest, he could only see her blonde hair, but it felt strange to have the girl he'd been trying to help for so long finally here with him. Everything that had transpired since he'd found that bottle had led up to this moment and he wasn't about to let her down.

There was a creaking of metal and wood from nearby and Natsu knew right away they had to move. He had no idea where Happy had ended up, but Loke was throwing a bench off of himself and Yukino, but he was thoroughly tangled in the debris of the wreckage. Like the rest of them, Gajeel was quickly pulling himself from underneath the rubble, but he didn't have anyone to look after other than himself. His target was Lucy, and she was still shaking in his arms in terror.

He sat up, gritting his teeth as the sharp pain ripped through his shoulder down into his chest, but Gajeel was standing now and there was no time to hesitate. Cradling her close as he rose, he could feel her staring up at him in curiosity. He had to be conscious of the fact that she wasn't wearing any shoes because of all the glass around, but where he had landed was fairly clear. He set her down carefully, glaring at his opponent who actually seemed to be waiting on him.

"Salamander," Gajeel said in acknowledgement. The Iron Dragon Slayer still had that arrogant grin on his face despite his ratty appearance. He hadn't escaped from Yukino's spell unscathed, but the impact of the train's rollover clearly hadn't hurt him more than Natsu. His left arm was dangling uselessly at his side which meant the playing field was a little more level for both of them.

"I'm not gonna let you take Lucy," he growled.

"You gonna stop me like that?" Gajeel asked dubiously. He nudged his head in Loke's direction. "Or is your little friend with the keys going to do it?"

It was two on one. There was no doubt that they would've won if they'd fought him like that from the beginning, but it had been impossible with Natsu's motion sickness-not that he'd have done that anyway. He had too much respect for the art of fighting. But the math was simple. Between him and Yukino, one of them had to get Lucy out of here before the rest of Phantom Lord caught up. Now that they were on solid ground, it seemed obvious who was going to do what.

"Loke, you and Yukino take Lucy somewhere safe," he said as he clutched the piece of wood protruding from his body and covered his wound with the other.

"You… You're…" Lucy couldn't seem to get a grasp on her words just before Loke scooped her into his arms without stopping to let her process what was going on.

Yukino, standing on her own two feet, nodded at him with the full understanding that she had the most important job of all. The summoner and her celestial spirit sprinted off, taking the precious cargo with them. And with that, Natsu could focus on the job at hand.

"I'm gonna make quick work of you," Gajeel said, obviously annoyed that the person he was guarding was getting away, but he had no choice but to stick around in his condition. There was no chance he was going to get past Natsu without knocking him out or killing him. They were both in pain and weren't able to fight at their highest level.

Natsu glared. "You can try."

He gritted his teeth as he began to pull the wood from his body, unable to hold back a roar at the pain. It took everything he had to keep going, but he let nothing stop him. When it was finally out, he wasn't even sure if it felt better or worse. Natsu tossed the piece of wooden debris to the ground and placed his hand over the wound, slick with blood. Wincing, he burned it closed.

"No need to stop the bleeding when I'm about to punch a few more holes in you," Gajeel stated as he launched forward. There was no more time for waiting.

Natsu dodged the first set of blows narrowly, feeling a little annoyed with himself for not being able to move faster. But Gajeel was clearly off his game too. The Iron Dragon Slayer's attacks weren't nearly as calculated as they'd been when Loke was fighting him. Still, the man was relentless and both of them were pretty evenly matched. Each took a hit for a hit and a block for a block.

Natsu moved out of the way of Gajeel's blade arm, but not before it nicked his forehead. However, he found an opening and grabbed a hold of it tightly and let the heat flow into his fingers. Charred metal soon transformed into flesh before Natsu was kicked in the face. He skidded across the ground, then rolled over just before an iron rod came smashing into where his head had been.

The rod came crashing down at him again, but Natsu grabbed it with both hands before the blow could connect. Gajeel was kneeling over him, adding pressure as Natsu's arms shook from exertion.

"You're a pretty decent opponent, Salamander," Gajeel said, still in the midst of trying to kill him, "but only one of us is walking away from this."

"That's why I'm getting all…" Natsu contracted every possible muscle. "...fired…" His body became engulfed in flames. "...up!"

He threw Gajeel off him and tackled him, the fire turning him into a literal human rocket. His fist connected with Gajeel's face with a satisfying crunch, but then met ground. By some miracle, the guy still had the strength in him to dodge. Gajeel rolled over and kicked Natsu away before struggling to his feet again.

Similarly, Natsu staggered upright, the flames around him now shrinking like there was a lack of oxygen. The gash on his forehead was now becoming somewhat of an issue as the blood leaked down into his eye, impairing his vision—another thing he was going to disregard until his opponent was down.

He heard Gajeel's foot slide back and he mirrored the move, ready to receive anything that was coming.

Clank!

Natsu blinked and looked up, Gajeel's eyes following the same sightline. He'd been ready for battle, but what the hell was that?

Above them stood a massive machine building adorned with the Phantom Lord guild crest. What… What in the hell was that thing? It looked like some kind of strange spider, but it only had six legs instead of eight. If he had to guess, that was some sort of mobile headquarters for Phantom Lord. Nothing else made any sense. But if they were here, where was everyone else in his guild?

Gajeel snorted. "Looks like we'll have to cut this fight short, Salamander. Not the way I'd do it, but if this is what Master wants…"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Natsu growled in response.

Some sort of foothold came down from the walking guild next to Gajeel. He grabbed onto it with his good arm and it began ascending.

"You're not going anywhere!" Natsu shouted as he flew forward to knock Gajeel off the platform, but Gajeel was ready for him. The Iron Dragon Slayer extended his arm as metal, knocking Natsu in the stomach and effectively grounding him.

Natsu rose as quickly as he could, watching as Gajeel grew further and further away. The legs of the machine were too thick to damage by hand. He glared up at Gajeel, powerless to do anything else. Without a doubt, they were going to head after Lucy. He only hoped Yukino and Loke had gotten far enough away for Phantom Lord to catch them.

He pressed his hand against the wound he'd gotten from the tumbling train as the guild building passed overhead. There was no time to rest. He had to find Yukino before the other guild did. He locked on to her scent, ready to follow as soon as he could find Happy. Lucy had been lost to him for so long, and he'd be damned if he lost her again.

Chapter Text

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.

"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.

Chapter Text

Betrayal. She should know by now that honour is not good business. Her father taught her that one.

She lies curled up on her bed, quiet and defeated. Because that's what this is. A defeat. A definitive one. This isn't some silly fairy tale where she's the princess, he's the knight, and he saves her when she's in a rough spot.

He has come for her and failed. It makes her wonder why more fairy tales don't tell that story, where the princess ends up a slave to the ones that kidnapped her. The ending probably isn't very nice. But it's the most realistic one.

Her knight… He tried his best, but who can fight back against an army? She certainly tried. They all did.

And now...she is back where she started. In a cell.

"Natsu…?"

He was dragging his feet forward when Happy finally awoke from his slumber. After Gajeel had left, Natsu had gotten down to work digging his friend out from under the rubble. The cat was out cold, but completely fine otherwise. In fact, out of everyone who had been involved in the crash as a result of Yukino's rather reckless magic use, he was probably the one who'd come out in the best shape.

After that, Natsu had placed Happy on his non-injured shoulder and gone lumbering after the massive mobile building that seemed to be Phantom Lord's guild headquarters. He didn't have any sort of confidence that he would catch up with them, but he had to try. There was no doubt they'd have caught up with Yukino and Lucy by now, and he had to help them. He'd burn down their entire building if he had to.

"What happened?" Happy asked as he groggily wiped his eyes. "Did you beat Gajeel?"

He gritted his teeth. "I would've, but there was interference."

Just the thought of the whole thing got the fire in his veins roaring again. He could have beat Gajeel. Would that have meant anything? Probably not, especially with the way Phantom Lord seemed to always have the upper hand. Natsu's own rash way of doing things hadn't worked, so he went with the slower, more rational way the rest of the guild had convinced him to go, and somehow they were still on the losing end of all this. If both methods weren't working, how could they possibly win? How could they save Lucy?

"Where are we going?" Happy asked, now fully awake. "I can fly."

Natsu opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, there was rumbling beneath his feet. He glanced around, wondering if that huge, spidery guild building was back (he would quite literally be glad to fight every single member of Phantom Lord, even if it killed him-which they probably would), but instead ended up relaxing when he set his eyes on the towering form of his own guild master. Makarov was crossing great distances with only a few strides, the rest of Fairy Tail who had come on this mission in the palm of his hand.

He nudged his cat friend into action, who quickly got Makarov's attention. It was only a couple minutes later that he was riding on the Master's hands with his comrades.

"Sending Lucy off with Yukino was the right thing to do, but there's no way the two of them could have escaped if that huge walking building found them," Erza said, her armour a little scuffed, but looking no worse for wear in general.

"I am not letting them win," Laxus said as he paced back and forth. "I'll tear every single one of them apart with my bare hands if I have to."

"Spirits, you're so dramatic," Cana groaned, taking a sip from her bottle. "You don't think Master already has a plan? This guild is full of hot heads like you, but he isn't one of them. Only an idiot would think he's just gonna go storming up to that building and start wrestling with it. Actually, I could see that happening, but still. He knows what to do or he wouldn't have taken all of us to go after them."

This was a small comfort to Natsu as he sat, letting Max bandage his wounds. His eyes wandered over to Gray who had been oddly quiet since the last time they had seen each other.

"You fought them?" Natsu asked.

"I fought her," he replied, not looking too delighted by that. "And I won. And look where we still ended up."

Natsu gave him a once over. Between them, Natsu probably still looked worse, but Gray could definitely give him a run for his money. The guy seemed as frustrated about their lack of progress as Natsu was and he felt a little bad about how much Gray had gone through in order to give them this chance. He hadn't seen Gray like this before. Juvia had really had an effect on him.

"There has to be a way to beat them," Natsu said as his hand curled into a fist.

Max tied up the bandage he was working with around Natsu's shoulder. "Well, we have Erza and Laxus, so I don't think we'll have an issue when it comes to power. It's the numbers everyone's worried about," he said, sitting back. "We don't have every single guild member with us, and even before that, we have to catch up to them. We're lucky we have Master to do this for us, but even he can't keep this transformation up forever. That building moves pretty fast. It could be out of our range in a few more minutes if we don't bring it down somehow."

"And bring it down we will," Makarov boomed suddenly, surprising all of them. "I will make certain of that myself, but I'll be counting on the rest of you to make sure this mission ends in success."

"Of course, Master," Erza replied. Beside her, Laxus was rolling his eyes.

"What does he have up his sleeve that could take down that whole building?" Gray asked.

"It doesn't matter," Natsu said as he worked his arm around, wincing as the tissue in his shoulder protested the movement. He would not be in peak condition for this at all, but like hell was he going to be left out of it when he was this close to fulfilling his word to Lucy. "If the old man can do what he says he's going to do, I'll be there to close up shop."

"I could wager a guess on what his plan is," Erza commented as she looked on into the distance.

Gray was starting to look impatient. "So? Tell us."

"It's risky, but if it works, I doubt Phantom Lord will be a problem for us much longer," she said. "If it doesn't work...then we'll be at a disadvantage. Even for Master, the spell he plans to cast is probably going to use whatever magic he has left."

Natsu's eyes widened. "You mean…"

Erza nodded. "Right. I've never seen it cast before either."

"I want to get Yukino and Lucy out of there too, but isn't that kind of extreme?" Gray asked skeptically. There was an underlying anxiety that was unspoken in his words when Juvia was one of the people thrown into the mix.

Laxus snorted. "Extreme? These people almost killed three of our own and now they probably have Yukino. For once, the old man and I are on the same wavelength. He's pissed, and we're done messing around. Once we catch up to them, their lives are forfeit."

What could she do?

Some people might say that she had let Lucy get to her, and they would be right, but only because there was merit to what she'd said. If they'd made a mistake, then she had to fix it. The problem was… fixing it meant going against her entire guild, and when this was the only place that had ever accepted her for the perpetual gloominess that followed her, it made the decision to do what was right much more difficult.

Juvia shook her head. It would be foolish to let the words of two people sway her so easily, especially after one of them had been playing her for so long. Although she didn't hold any sort of grudge, it was a tough argument to let herself trust Gray again. This… This was silly. Morals weren't her issue. That was why Gajeel did so well in the guild. He did what was best for all of them by following Jose's orders. Maybe it was better if she took on that same type of mentality.

Sighing, she glanced out the window where she was standing in the hallway. Something on the horizon caught her eye. Juvia squinted, trying to identify it.

Her eyes widened a moment later. That was... a man!

At first he looked tiny, but as her brain started processing his image from this distance, she realized he was probably huge. There wasn't even a question as to who that was or why they were here; this was Fairy Tail—their Master, judging by his appearance at the docks—and they were coming to retrieve their own. It was in this moment that Juvia knew what she had to do.

An alarm sounded, the one that never went off telling them to get ready for an all-out guild war. Juvia rushed down the hallways towards the dungeon until she saw Gajeel stubbornly heading to his station even with all his injuries. She grabbed his wrist as he passed by her.

"What are you doing?" Gajeel demanded.

Juvia's grip only grew tighter. "This isn't right, Gajeel-kun. We shouldn't be doing this."

"What? Following orders?"

"Forcing a girl to go to a place she ran away from."

Gajeel looked at her like she was crazy. "She's seventeen! You don't think her own father knows better?"

"That's barely younger than you and me," she retorted. "Fairy Tail is coming, Gajeel-kun. We don't have to fight with them."

"That fucking guy really got to you," he growled, pulling his arm out of her grasp. "You're asking me to go directly against Master's orders."

"Haven't you ever thought about more than what's right for the guild?" Juvia asked heatedly, truly upset by his blindness now. "What you do for our guild does not make you a good person, Gajeel-kun, and Juvia isn't going to make excuses for you anymore. Hurting people in the name of Phantom Lord is still hurting people. Even if you do it for the guild, it doesn't change whether it's right or wrong."

He stared at her, stunned, obviously not at all prepared to have been called out. He was clearly searching for words and failing to find any.

"Gajeel-kun can still be on the right side of this. Just please help Juvia," she said, pleading with her dark eyes. "Make things right with Fairy Tail. They have never instigated anything with us. We don't need to fight a war against them."

Instead of saying anything, he simply nodded. Juvia offered him a grateful smile in return. Out of everyone, he was really the only one she would call a friend in the guild, and right now, she needed him on her side. If the looming giant figure of Fairy Tail chasing after them wasn't a sign of something bad to come, she didn't know what was.

"Come on. We must free Lucy-san and the girl from Fairy Tail." Juvia waved him in the direction of the holding cells and he followed after her. If he was feeling at all apprehensive about this decision, he certainly wasn't showing it.

When they arrived, however, Boze and Sue were still there doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing, and this somehow seemed to aggravate Gajeel immensely.

"Juvia? Gajeel? What are you two doing here? This is our post," Sue asked.

Juvia was about to make some excuse when Gajeel stepped in rather impatiently.

"Master sent us to replace you because you suck at this," he growled coldly. "Now get out of my sight."

Both of them were sufficiently terrified by Gajeel's grumpy attitude and didn't ask any further questions before they scurried off. He pushed into the room looking somehow irritated by their actions, which really hadn't been much of anything. Juvia followed after him, a little unsurprised he was being like this. She knew he had to be incredibly uncomfortable right now.

As soon as they got inside, Juvia grabbed the keys to the cells and tossed them to Gajeel, who began to grudgingly work on freeing Yukino. Yukino didn't seem all that pleased with this development either.

"This doesn't seem quite fitting for you," she commented suspiciously.

"This is the help you're getting," Gajeel growled. "Take it or leave it, kid."

The door opened and Yukino stepped out, glaring at him. "Don't call me a kid."

Despite their tense interaction, Gajeel immediately got to work on Lucy's cell while Juvia searched around the small desk near the door. Opening the drawer, she spotted Yukino's Celestial keys and grabbed them.

Lucy stepped out of her own cell, taking a moment to glance carefully at Gajeel. After an indecipherable few seconds between the two, she turned her attention to Juvia.

"Thank you," Lucy said.

Juvia nodded, not trusting herself to say anything more. To some degree, she felt responsible for allowing Lucy to end up in this situation. She would've been anywhere she wanted right now if it weren't for her ex-boyfriend, who she could have stopped if she'd known all of this was going on. The lone thought that she had been involved with someone who could do something so despicable made her feel ill.

"Fairy Tail is coming," Juvia said as she turned to Yukino, focusing on the task at hand, "and while that may be a good thing for both of you, this battle is going to be out of control and everyone is at risk of getting caught in the crossfire. We must approach your guild before they arrive."

Yukino watched her carefully, reading between the lines. "Why the rush?"

Juvia gestured to the narrow slit in the wall of the building which Yukino proceeded to look through. She turned back, looking a little stunned.

"Oh."

"Yes. We must stop this before it gets out of hand," Juvia replied. She headed for the door with Yukino and Lucy behind her. Lucy was clearly confused, but she didn't ask any questions as she followed. "I will guide us out. Gajeel-kun, keep watch behind us."

Juvia peeked out from the holding area, seeing the last few stragglers of their guild head to their posts. A moment later, the hallway was silent and they were clear to move. She signaled for them to follow her as she moved out of the dungeon and stealthily down the hall.

"How will we get out of this place?" Lucy asked, using her voice for the first time in a while. "If I remember correctly, this building is pretty high above the ground."

Juvia led them around a corner and down a pathway into the Phantom Lord gym area for sparring. "We have to get to the cargo area. That's where the lift to get us down is."

It was a lot easier said than done. The sparring area was empty, but the entrance to the cargo area was swarming with members. Juvia thought about her own post, much higher up on the building with the rest of the Element 4, being showcased as one of their S-class mages. Gajeel had a spot up there too, and it was undoubtedly where he'd been heading before she caught him. Down here were the grunts that were still working their way up the guild ranks. Between herself and Gajeel, they could probably neutralize everyone down here. Well, with difficulty considering their recent injuries, but they could probably do it. Still, she didn't want anyone else to get hurt that didn't have to. Regardless of her intentions, it was true that she felt this was the best way to protect her guild.

"We can't just go running out there with these two," Gajeel said as he looked through the exit door. "You get them out. I'll cause a distraction and then catch up."

"Are you sure?" Juvia asked, feeling hesitant about separating at all.

He nodded before running off without another word, leaving Juvia with no choice but to find somewhere to hide. If she were alone, it would have been no issue at all, but with both Yukino and Lucy, it was going to be a challenge to find a place they wouldn't stick out in an open gym. Her head was on a swivel as she grabbed Lucy's hand.

"Here, this way." She pulled Lucy over to the cubbies with Yukino following after them. There was hardly anything around that could conceal their presence, but she figured if they could flatten themselves against the wall enough, nobody would notice them as they went past.

She squashed herself as much as she could against the shelves and the wall, pulling her skirt tight around her legs so it wouldn't stick out. Lucy was next to her, her shorts and shirt much easier to manage in this situation, but the girl was just as chesty as Juvia was, and even with Lucy folding her arms over her chest, it wasn't actually making her smaller in any way. Yukino, who was still young and tiny, had no issue crammed up beside Lucy.

Gajeel made good on his word. Only a moment passed when a huge crash came from the hallway where they'd come from.

"The prisoners have escaped!" she heard him yell. "Get over here and find them. They couldn't have gotten far!"

Just as expected, everyone in the cargo hold ran straight towards Gajeel's voice and fortunately for them, nobody looked back. As soon as what seemed to be the last person trickled through the door, Juvia crept forward and peeked into the room. Finally, things were going her way! The cargo hold was empty, so she gestured for Yukino and Lucy to come with her.

She pointed at the circular shape cut into the rear of the room. "The platform is over there. We just have to stand on it and hit the lever to get down, but we have to wait for Gajeel-kun to get back before we can go."

"I appreciate that he helped us, but it seems pointless to wait for him," Yukino pointed out. Her tone was more logical than the coldness it usually held when it came to Gajeel. "Your guild is too preoccupied with my Master to recognize that he's someone who helped us escape, so he'll be safe here."

For once, Juvia fixed the little girl with a stern look. She was smart, but she didn't understand the weight of what was unfolding right now. Without a doubt, Juvia and Gajeel had passed the point of no return when it came to being members of Phantom Lord. Jose would never forgive them for this, but she had chosen the path that she saw as having the least casualties and what was best for Lucy. If Gajeel didn't come with her, Fairy Tail didn't have any incentive to stop the crusade against her own guild. "We don't leave without Gajeel."

She ensured both females were on the platform before she moved closer to the door to make sure nobody else from the guild was coming. "You two stay there. Juvia will keep watch."

Yukino obviously did not approve of this plan, but stayed silent. Lucy was simply too resigned about everything that had happened to her up until this point to protest in any way. Their silence was satisfying, but watching them, Juvia remembered what she had procured in the prison. She pulled the set of keys out of her pocket and held them up to Yukino before tossing them to the young girl.

"Here," she said, turning partially back to the door. In any situation, it would generally be a bad idea to give a weapon back to people she didn't trust, but she knew just by the day's events that Yukino was exhausted magically and probably couldn't summon anything without help. Besides, she did sympathize with having to be separated from your primary magical medium.

Juvia heard the small gasp from Lucy as Yukino started to unhook the second keyring that was attached to her own. She didn't really understand what was going on, but for the first time, she acknowledged the possibility that Lucy could be a mage herself.

"I know how long you've been waiting for this," Yukino said, still fiddling with the rings.

Unfortunately, whatever Lucy had been waiting for would have to wait a little longer because just then, Gajeel came flying into the room. He blew right by Juvia and headed for the platform.

"I've sent them on a wild goose chase, but we don't have long," Gajeel said, urgently waving her over. "Get on here and hit the lever."

She didn't need to be told twice. Juvia hopped onto the platform with them and extended an arm of water to pull the lever. Juvia placed a hand on Yukino's shoulder to steady the younger girl as the platform lowered at a surprising speed.

"What are we planning on doing next?" Yukino asked as she looked back to where the giant Fairy Tail Master was striding towards them.

The platform reached just above the ground and Juvia hopped off with Yukino in tow, using her magic to slow their momentum as they touched down. Gajeel, with all his brute strength even injured, grabbed Lucy and steadied himself through sheer force of will and powerful legs. Juvia watched as the Phantom Lord building moved away from them going toward the Heartfilia estate.

"We'll wait for your guild to arrive and get their attention," Juvia replied.

"No, we won't."

Juvia glanced curiously at Gajeel who was still holding Lucy tightly against him, then edged into a combat stance when she saw the look on his face. Next to her, Yukino had also sensed the change in atmosphere.

Gajeel glared into her. He had changed his free arm into a blade, holding it up by Lucy's chin. "This is where we go our separate ways. I will deliver her to her father."

She trembled, knowing exactly what he was doing but wanting to hear it from his mouth. Of all the people to do this to her, she hadn't expected it from Gajeel. Then again, it was easy to see why he would do such a thing when she looked at what she had asked him to do in the first place. Maybe it was just too much.

"Gajeel-kun, why…?" she asked.

His eyes were hard. "I'm not blind to your plight, Juvia, but I knew this moment would come as soon as you decided to trust that Fairy Tail scumbag. You feel guilty. Fine. That doesn't mean you should betray your guild, and I can tell you for damn sure I'm not going to betray mine. I know you, and I wasn't going to be able to stop you from doing what you want, so I did my part to help you and now here we are," he said. "Before any of this shit happened, you were a good comrade. That's why I'm compromising. You take the little Fairy Tail brat and return her to the guild. I won't do anything else to her. I won't even tell Master what you've done, but that's it. I'm still going to finish this mission regardless of what you think is right."

Arguing with him would do her little good. Juvia was well aware of that. He wouldn't listen even if she told him his compromise wasn't good enough—not in regard to her, because she knew that Gajeel compromising at all was monumental—but because the very confrontation she was trying to avoid would happen anyway. They were dead set on helping Lucy, and even more so on avenging their injured guild members. If Juvia didn't show up with both Gajeel and Lucy, Fairy Tail wasn't going to stop.

"Gajeel-kun, this isn't going to end well," she told him carefully.

He met her gaze with steely eyes. "Maybe not, but my guild comes first."

And they went.

Chapter Text

Was this all her life was meant to be from now on? Taken from place to place against her will? Thrown on someone's shoulder like she wasn't even a person and just an object to be handed around? Recycled like currency and powerless to stop it?

She was sick of it.

Despite his injuries, his grip on her was iron and there was no doubt that if she tried to hit him, she would succeed at nothing. Fine. She could set aside ethics and morals when everyone else was. It was time to use whichever tools she had.

She grasped a big lock of his hair and yanked, causing him to yelp-a rather strange noise coming from someone who seemed so masculine. She pulled harder and his grip tightened rather than loosened, but at least he had started staggering.

"What the hell are you doing? Stop that," he hissed at her as he attempted to disentangle her hands from his hair.

In response, she balled a second fist around his hair and pulled.

"Cut it out!"

They had completely stopped now and she was using every ounce of her strength to keep holding on. Finally, got to his knees to try and pry her off. As soon as she felt her feet touch the ground, she let him push her away. She lost her footing and fell to the floor.

"What are you trying to do?" he asked, glaring down at her.

"I'm trying to get away from you!" she shouted, returning his glare with equal fervour. "You can try and tie me up, but I don't think you have anything around to do it with, and you can threaten me all you want, but you can't hurt me because your client wouldn't be too happy learning that the people he hired to find his daughter ended up harming her."

He grit his teeth at her taunting. She knew it was all true. She could try to run, but he would just grab hold of her again, and she would definitely start pulling his hair if he tried to drag her back to her father again.

The two of them were locked in a heated stare. They had reached an impasse.

They had gotten closer enough for Makarov to release what he had in store for Phantom Lord, so when Makarov stopped, Gray was certain he was about to see some major magic go down. What he hadn't expected was for Makarov to set his hands down to let them all disembark. The guild members all jumped off obediently before their Master's hand shot forward and grabbed two of the legs of the building. With a grunt of effort, they snapped in two like a pair of crab legs.

"You aren't going anywhere," he boomed before he shrunk down to his normal size.

"Wait!"

Gray froze at the voice. What kind of cruel twist of fate was this? He didn't want to have to fight her again. Fortunately, as he turned around, he realized that wasn't what was going to happen.

Yukino came racing up first, placing a hand on Makarov's arm. "I'm okay, and they don't have Lucy."

Juvia stepped forward with her hands raised, her eyes looking as exhausted as he felt about this whole thing. She dropped to her knees trying to prove that she wasn't a threat, though that was hard to do when she could command her magic without lifting a finger.

"Please, Juvia just doesn't want anyone else getting hurt," she said.

"Where's Lucy?" Natsu cut in loudly as he pulled forward from the group.

She closed her eyes and Gray could see that she was hurting. What was going on…?

"Juvia tried to help her but…"

"Gajeel Redfox took her," Yukino answered instead. "She really did try to help us. It was him."

Natsu nodded toward his feline companion. "Happy." However, just as they were about to take off, Yukino held them back.

"Wait," she said as she grabbed Natsu's vest. He paused for her as she took the keys off her waistband. If Yukino's word wasn't enough, the fact that she had her most prized weapons back in her possession was enough proof for Gray to believe that Juvia really had helped them. There were two sets of keychains placed together, one which he presented belonged to Lucy. When they were finally separate, Yukino placed one of the sets into Natsu's hands. "Return these to Lucy-san please."

He nodded, then didn't wait for anything else before taking off with Happy's assistance.

Just then, a man with a very sharp-looking mustache appeared at the helm of the building, sneering down at the group of Fairy Tail members. Gray stepped in front of Juvia quickly, knowing that what she'd done probably wasn't going to be taken very well by her own guild.

"Still haven't given up, Makarov?" he boomed from above. Gray could only assume he was Phantom Lord's guild leader, Jose. "You and your pathetic guild will never surpass mine. It's time you accept that."

"We don't have to fight, but we will if we have to," Makarov replied, somehow just as loud despite his small size.

"Gray-sama," Juvia whispered urgently, causing him to glance down at her, "use me."

He stared, confused. "What?"

"As a hostage!"

Oh. Oh. Well, that hardly would solve their whole issue with Phantom Lord, but she really didn't want anyone to get hurt. Of all the ways he'd expected to see her again, it certainly hadn't involved him taking her hostage, whether or not it was at her request. It also wasn't something Gray really wanted to do. However, listening at Makarov's voice became steadily more heated as he exchanged words with Jose and the way Juvia was staring at him with dark, desperate eyes, he made the snap decision to honour her request.

She'd already been smart enough to put her hands behind her back as he helped her to her feet. "How do I do this?" he hissed hastily. "With your magic, I can't exactly do this conventionally."

"But you defeated me with your own when we fought," she replied. "Put your hand around my neck. It would kill me if you used your magic while I was trying to phase."

Gray nodded and swallowed before complying with a shaky hand. He really didn't want to do this, and it took some serious concentrated effort to actually keep his hand where it was supposed to be.

"Go on. They won't hurt me," she breathed, still having the grace to blush at their position that was strangely intimate for all the wrong reasons.

He took a deep breath before glaring up at Jose. "Hey!" he shouted, drawing the other man's attention. "In case you haven't noticed, we have one of yours. It's in your interest to give us what we want and we'll release her."

Jose narrowed his eyes at the two of them, finally taking care to see that one of his best mages was indeed in Fairy Tail's clutches. "Juvia? How did you manage that?"

"It was me!" Yukino called out as she rushed to Gray's side. Not for the first time, her intellect was on point. "You thought I wouldn't be able to do anything without my keys, but you were wrong!"

If Gray could trust he was correctly reading Jose's facial expression from all the way up there, it was safe to say that the man looked positively pissed off. It felt like they'd been behind Phantom Lord for so long; for the first time, it seemed like they finally had the upper hand in something. All because Juvia had a good heart.

Jose's expression fell into one that looked at peace. Was this it? Was the man going to submit to them? Then he raised his arm and flung it forward.

It happened in less than a second-so quickly that Gray wasn't even sure it had happened at all. But Juvia, who he was still holding, suddenly convulsed and slumped back against him. He followed her body's lead, catching her and slowly lowering both of them to the ground. He saw her dark eyes first, full of shock and confusion turning dull and lifeless, and as his own eyes trailed down to find her navy dress rapidly staining with blood.

"J-Juvia…?" he whispered, voice hoarse.

She tried to answer, but her mouth gurgled with blood. He couldn't understand what was going on. What was going on? One minute they'd been talking to Jose and the next, Juvia was…?

Gray looked up to where a Phantom Lord member was pointing a staff cracking with lightning down at Juvia. The Master of Phantom Lord stood arrogantly above them all, sneering at them as though they were ants.

"I think I'll do what I want."

Natsu clutched Lucy's keys tightly in his hand as Happy carried them over a rather tall gate. Beyond it lay beautiful fields of lush green only broken up by a road that led up to a mansion that was still quite a ways ahead. If he had to guess, the two of them had just passed into the Heartfilia estate, a place that seemed beautiful to the eye, but had been an empty home for Lucy for so many years. What he really had difficulty understanding was why someone would need this much space for anything at all.

Anyway, if they were this close to Lucy's old home, then Natsu knew they were also very close to losing her altogether. His mind was racing, wondering if maybe they were too late. One thing was for certain: Gajeel was a very persistent man who would stop at nothing to achieve the goals of his guild. It didn't matter that the guy was probably even in worse condition than Natsu was.

"I think I see them!" Happy announced, his voice straining under the load. The cat was sweating as he flew and Natsu knew his friend was pushing his limits just to help him. He made a mental note to thank Happy later when all this was over now that they knew Gajeel hadn't succeeded in his mission quite yet.

It only took a moment for Natsu to see what Happy had. A dark mass of hair was visible standing among the well manicured lawn. Lucy, significantly smaller, appeared to be facing him down. Kind of an odd position considering the situation, he thought, but it was incredibly bold of her when she didn't have any weapons to fight with.

He looked down at the keys in his hand before pocketing them. Time to shift the tide.

When they were close enough, Happy took them lower and Natsu landed next to Lucy, stepping ahead of her a little protectively. She looked surprised to see him.

"You… You came back," she said, her stance relaxing a bit.

"I always come back for my friends," Natsu replied as he squared up with Gajeel. The other dragon slayer appeared much less pleased about his presence this time.

Lucy leveled her gaze at the other man. "I don't think we're at even odds anymore."

Gajeel glared at both of them. "I guess not."

He sprang into action, his hand and arm transforming into an iron pillar that he extended at Natsu, but Natsu was ready for it. He moved out of the way, away from Lucy, and channeled fire into his hands. A moment later, he was tossing an inferno at Gajeel who threw himself out of the way at the last second leaving his hair a little singed.

The pair of them barely took a breath before they were at each other again. Aside from Gray, Natsu had never met someone so evenly matched with him. Both of them a little slow from their injuries, they still managed to match each other blow for blow. Gajeel was a heavier hitter than most, and the guy was bigger than him. Those qualities would make anyone assume he was slow, but Gajeel was not. Fortunately, though Natsu lacked in size compared to the other man, he was deceptively strong and never short on passion when he fought. If Gajeel had underestimated him before, he certainly wasn't now.

Natsu ducked under a particularly vicious swipe of his opponent's iron arm and threw his shoulder forward, knocking Gajeel back. He inhaled deeply, Gajeel mirroring him.

"Fire Dragon's…"

"Iron Dragon's…"

They exhaled simultaneously, hands creating a tunnel for the magic.

"Roar!"

Natsu poured as much as he could into the attack, flames nearly flickering blue as they clashed against the swirl of iron magic, culminating in a massive explosion that knocked him off his feet. He flew backwards, landing at Lucy's feet and breathing hard. Admittedly, after the fatigue of their earlier events, that had taken quite a bit out of him. Still, as the large cloud of smoke from the magical collision started to disperse, Natsu sat up to get ready for Gajeel's next move. He had no doubt there would be one.

However, before anything else happened, Lucy was kneeling by his side. He glanced over at her, about to tell her to get somewhere safe, but her eyes weren't on him. They were locked firmly on the ground. It took him a second to realize she was staring at her keys, which had fallen out of his pocket-probably sometime after he had been thrown back in his and Gajeel's fight.

She was tentative as she reached out to touch them, almost like a frightened animal. The shine of their metal was somewhat dulled by everything they'd been through, just like her own rumpled appearance. Regardless of how they looked, Natsu could see what a significant moment this was. He remembered the first letter from her he had found and how these very keys had been sealed into the bottle with it. Just like Yukino, the meaning of those keys went deeper than he could fathom.

"I thought I would never see these again," she said quietly as she cradled the keys in her hands.

He watched her silently, wanting to let her have this little spot of brightness when everything that had come before had been so clearly horrible. It only lasted a second, though, because he felt the hairs on his neck stand and he shoved Lucy out of the way when Gajeel barreled into him again.

Gray felt cold in a way he never had before as he held Juvia's limp body in his arms. She had been in that position because she hadn't wanted anyone else to get hurt. Not on her side and not on his side. So why was it that she was the only person who had gotten hurt. Why was she the one who was laying there bleeding on the floor? She had assured him that they wouldn't hurt her. Of course they wouldn't, Gray had reasoned with himself, because no guild would ever do that to one of their own. He hadn't believed that a guild would ever do that to one of their own.

At least not until today.

At some point, Yukino had joined him on the ground, putting pressure on Juvia's wound, but he barely took note of her presence. What was the point? Juvia was dead. Phantom Lord had killed her. He knew it.

He retracted his arms from around her body and stood slowly.

"You're supposed to be her comrades," Gray started, his voice quaking as his blood began to boil. "You're supposed to protect her."

He glared up at their opposing guild. Some of the members had the decency to look mildly bothered by this assertion, though not the man who had executed the attack. Neither did Jose, who was rolling his eyes at the declaration, as if the notion of protecting one's own family was ludicrous.

"I do what's best for the name of Phantom Lord," Jose retorted as he crossed his arms. "She served her purpose."

Gray didn't even think to consider whether he should reply. "So she was just a sacrifice to you!"

Jose laughed. "An honourable one. She should be proud."

He found this funny. Gray couldn't keep it inside anymore. He suddenly understood what drove Natsu's recklessness. This was the worst guild in the world, filled with the worst people in the world and he was going to dismantle that building and everyone in it with his bare hands.

"Gray, no…!" Erza called after him as he darted forward, blood pounding in his ears.

Reaching one of the legs of the building, he slammed his fist against his palm. Normally, using verbal cues helped him concentrate on the formation of the spell, but his mind was too clouded with thoughts of vengeance. He planted his hands on the long building structure and his ice began to grow to encase it. As soon as it had crawled up to the building structure, he kicked the ice viciously. Phantom Lord's guild headquarters shook under his assault.

"Someone deal with him!" Gray heard Jose yell from above, but he was focused on bringing this whole thing down. Nothing was going to stop him. So when the first member of Phantom Lord came rushing down at him wielding some sort of magic that gave him stretchy limbs, Gray ruthlessly broke both his arms by freezing them and cracking them over his knees. The piercing scream that followed would've usually weighed on his conscience.

Not today.

He pounded at the machinery in front of him again with laser focus. Each mage who came to stop him was dealt with using non-lethal, but efficient force. He was only vaguely aware of the voices around him growing louder as he struck the frozen construct over and over until his knuckles were covered in blood. It was hanging on by a thread. Good. He'd keep doing this until each one of Phantom Lord's members came down and got what they deserved. With one final push, he threw his shoulder against the building leg and it cracked. One crack was all that was necessary, because it climbed all the way to the base of the building and promptly shattered.

There were shouts that came from above, presumably from the loss of structural integrity that suddenly rocked the building. It was exactly what he wanted, but he wasn't done yet. Gray promptly shoved another member of Phantom Lord out of the way as he stormed over to the next pillar. He still couldn't reach them. He still couldn't stand in front of Jose and break his fu-

Strong arms under his stole his attention. He whipped his head around to see Erza keeping him tightly in a Nelson hold.

"Let me go," he snarled at her, thrashing to try and escape.

"No." Her voice was harsh, and he would have noticed that if he went so single-mindedly focused on exacting revenge. In fact, it actually pissed him off even more that his own guild mates were not on the same warpath he was. Had they not seen what Jose had ordered? How could they stand by and be okay with him basically disposing of one of his own?

"If you're not helping, then you're part of the problem!" Gray shouted as he continued to struggle against her. His feet dragged at the ground, but she prevented him from ever getting enough leverage to actually stand a fighting chance against her.

Her grip tightened on him and he grimaced at the strain in his neck and arms. "We are helping. Just watch," she hissed.

Gray tried to shrug her off again, but quickly found this attempt futile. Erza was freakishly strong and knew exactly how to keep him just off balance. She backed away from the building with her hold staying tight. He only stopped struggling when he saw their Master standing ahead in deep concentration. His eyes were closed and when they reopened, they were glowing. Makarov's hands spread wide before he brought them back together, a blinding ball of light forming between his palms.

"Jose Porla, you ordered the death of your own comrade. For this we Fairies pass judgement!" the Master boomed looking absolutely terrifying in his state of rage and surrounded by the power of the spell he was casting. "Fairy Law!"

His body seemed to lift off the ground in this final moment. Gray's own body fell limp in Erza's grasp as he watched in awe. The light in Makarov's hands shot up into a pillar, then grew until it consumed him and entire Phantom Lord headquarters. Gray kept his eyes open for as long as he could, but it was too bright. He felt Erza let go of him to cover her eyes and he followed suit immediately, as if his rage had been taken by the light too. The ground rumbled and a high pitched noise rang in his ears, but surprisingly, none of it seemed like it hurt him.

A few moments later, the ground stilled and silence returned. Cautiously, Gray opened his eyes. The rest of the Fairy Tail members were doing the same.

The crash of metal falling off the Phantom Lord headquarters drew his attention. Its joints were collapsing, and whether they were on the building or on the ground, Phantom Lord's members were collapsing with it. Everywhere he turned, someone was there keeling over from the spell Makarov had cast. At the end of it all, only Jose remained standing among his underlings, a look of defiance of his face. Unfortunately for him, that was all it was as the man swayed in his spot mere seconds later before crumpling to the ground, unconscious.

Ahead of them, Makarov was observing the scene. "Hmph, I guess we've solved which is the better guild," he grumbled, then turned around and strolled over to where Yukino was placing pressure on Juvia's wound. Cana had two of her fingers against Juvia's neck, taking her pulse. "How is she?"

"All things considered? She's hanging in there," Cana replied. Gray's ears perked up.

"What?" He turned on the spot and rushed over to the group, skidding to his knees to help Yukino and desperately searching for the rise of her chest. "She's alive?"

"Well, if she's not, she's some sort of weird zombie pumping blood," Cana said dryly.

Gray's eyes stung as he gently took one of her hands in his own. He hunched over in relief until his forehead was touching her the back of her hand. She was alive, and with the combined expertise of his guild members, she'd probably be okay too. After everything Juvia had been through, she hadn't deserved this.

A hand came down on his shoulder and he lifted his head to see his Master standing next to him, every bit as battered as the rest of them-especially after that spell.

"She's a good person," Makarov said. "She is welcome in our guild any time."

Gray nodded, the tension in his body melting away for the first time today. Finally they were done with the fighting, but not only that; he could offer Juvia a place to go when she was better. She'd confided in him about her loneliness before and he would make sure she didn't have to experience that ever again. He would make sure she knew he would always be there for her.

He gripped her hand tighter. But for now? It was time to heal. The rest was in Natsu's hands.

Lucy's sweet reunion with her keys was short-lived. Before she could thank Natsu for bringing them back to her, he had unceremoniously shoved her aside to keep her out of Gajeel's way. For a moment, the keys had fallen from her hands again and she'd scrambled across the dirt to make sure they were safely back in her hands.

As she placed Nikora's key back in place with the others, she glanced up to see the fierce brawl going on between Natsu and Gajeel. The two of them made her self-defense classes look like a joke. Fiery hands and iron clubs were flying at each other with brutal force and neither one of them could gain an edge. That meant they were taking the same amount of hits and both of them were inevitably slowing down. As much as she had faith in Natsu, he had a chance of losing this fight and she couldn't allow that; not when they were so close to being done with all of this.

"We've got to help him somehow," she said to the cat that had come with Natsu.

"Can you fight like that?" he asked, and Lucy briefly thought he might be sassing her, but the question seemed like a genuine one. Of course it would be. Despite having exchanged many letters with Natsu, they didn't really know each other. Hell, she'd thought he was a girl until just hours ago.

"No," Lucy replied to Natsu's companion, briefly acknowledging the strangeness of speaking to a cat, "but I can fight with these." She lifted her keys to show him. They had gotten her this far; they could stand one more battle.

She got to her feet, tired but determined, and trav through the list of her spirits in her head. There was only one strong enough to make a real impact on Gajeel, and the nearby fountain was probably the only stroke of luck she'd had in the last several weeks. Lifting her key, she concentrated on the gate before she even spoke the words to open it, but she couldn't reach it no matter how hard she tried. Sweat beaded on her brow as she tried one last time to no avail. Her hands wrung her hair.

"I... I just don't have enough magic to help anyone." Lucy crouched down, making herself as small as she felt. She could hear Natsu grunt as he took another hit. Was there no way she could help him?

A little paw was placed on her knee. She raised her head, looking eyes with the magic-wielding cat. "Use mine."

"What?"

"If you can help Natsu, you should use my magic," he said without any reservation. "Try again. I'll help you."

She was hesitant for a moment, lacking the confidence that she could pull this off when someone was putting so much faith in her, but the second she glanced over at Natsu who was withstanding an iron club to the gut, she stood and readied her keys again.

Lucy let out a breath and held her key forward and pulled on every ounce of magic she had left in her. She felt the cat's hand on her ankle and things became much easier, feeling his magic flowing through her as well. This was good. She could do this. She could feel the gate at her fingertips.

"Open the Gate to the Water Bearer," she started, feeling as though she were reaching out to an old friend (though she doubted her oldest spirit would ever think of her like that), "Aquarius!"

She crashed to her knees. There was nothing left in her as she called with her magic and Aquarius responded. The spirit splashed into the fountain and Lucy immediately felt her eyes fill with tears. Even as Aquarius looked at her with her usual disapproval and disdain, hers was the only familiar face she had seen in months. Lucy couldn't help the smile that appeared on her lips and Aquarius's own expression seemed to soften.

"You called me," the spirit said.

Lucy nodded, her happiness holding steady. Those first words were more than she could have ever hoped for. "I did."

"What do you need?" Aquarius asked.

"Help Natsu. Please," she replied as she gestured toward the fight.

For the first time since she'd been summoned, Aquarius looked away to examine the duel between Natsu and Gajeel. The two seemed so exhausted now that they were forgoing any sort of magic at all and were straight up brawling like children in a schoolyard. Still, nothing Lucy herself could get in the middle of. She could barely stand up right now as it was.

"That boy," Aquarius began, a smirk appearing in her lips, "he really did it."

Lucy didn't know what she was talking about, but apparently Happy did because he started hopping up and down. "Of course he did! He promised!"

Aquarius glanced back at Lucy and nodded as if to confirm what she was being asked. "I'll help him."

The statement startled Lucy more than anything. Aquarius was the type of spirit that would complain about each and every thing Lucy asked of her, so even if she was feeling a little softer today, for her to be so willing to help out wasn't like her at all. She had no idea what was going on, but she was glad that whatever it was seemed to only be positive.

The powerful spirit raised her pot, overflowing with water as her head ornament glistened in the sunlight. Beads of water cascaded down her skin as she called the power of water forth. She was the picture of beauty and in her, Lucy could see her freedom truly coming to fruition. It was with awe that she watched Aquarius effortlessly command the water, sweeping Gajeel away from Natsu and knocking him flat on his back.

Natsu whipped around, surprised by the interference in his battle, but seemed to calm when he saw Aquarius in the fountain. Lucy was pleasantly surprised when she saw the two of them exchange smiles when another voice drew her attention.

"This...isn't over."

His fists were bruised and bloody, his wound from being impaled earlier had reopened, his ribs were broken, and one of his eyes was starting to swell shut, but it was not a stretch to say that Natsu would have kept fighting until he was either dead or couldn't move. Even his magic reserves were running pretty much on empty. If someone asked him to light a candle right now, it would probably take effort to summon just a wisp of flame. Still, he would never turn down a worthy opponent, and he sure as hell wouldn't give up when someone else's future was on his shoulders.

That was why he couldn't be angry when Aquarius interfered in his fight. Any other time, he might feel offended that another mage was getting involved, but this was not about him; this was about Lucy and her right to choose her freedom. Regardless of how worthy of an opponent Gajeel was, his goal was to take Lucy back to her father and that was the main outcome they were trying to avoid. This was her fight.

However, as Gajeel struggled to stand up for another round, Natsu felt a fresh wave of energy run through his body. The guy's tenacity rivaled his own.

"I'm not done," Gajeel gritted out, now on his hands and knees. He glared over at Aquarius, evidently ready to take her on as well.

"Yes, you are."

Natsu's head whipped around, a little shocked that Lucy had been the one to answer. She too was struggling to her feet, but as she stumbled to the edge of the fountain on weak legs like a baby deer, he saw the determination on her face.

"I'm not going back to my father," she said firmly, "and you no longer have the power to make me."

Gajeel looked like he wanted to speak up, but he couldn't seem to get anything out when he didn't even have enough strength to stand. His expression was one of denial, that he hadn't been defeated. Sure enough, Natsu hadn't been the one to beat him, and there were certainly too many confounding variables to say who would have won in a battle between just the two of them. Regardless, defeat was defeat, and the only real winner was Lucy. Gajeel's devastation was more than enough revenge for what he had done to Shadow Gear.

"I can't hold the gate open much longer," Lucy said to her spirit, her words wavering as much as the limbs supporting her.

Aquarius nodded. "I'll go." Her imposing figure softened as she looked at her summoner. "Lucy… It's good to see you."

Lucy floundered at that for a moment, speechless, before Aquarius reverted to her usual stern countenance.

"You'd better not lose your keys again."

Lucy smiled. "I won't."

The next moment, Aquarius was gone. Lucy let out a sigh. He watched as she let herself sink to the ground, holding her keys close to her chest. He couldn't imagine what these past few months had been like for her, surrounded by people who only wanted to use her for their own benefit. But she would be safe with him and Happy and Natsu wanted her to know that.

"That was great!" Happy said cheerfully. "You totally beat him!"

Gajeel, who was still conscious nearby, clearly did not agree with this, but the man had collapsed on the ground and definitely wasn't going anywhere. Natsu ignored him as he approached the girl he'd been trying to save since he found her letter in a bottle. He sat down next to her by the fountain, head lulling to the side to watch her.

He spotted the brand on her leg just below her shorts, which could easily be mistaken for a guild stamp if it weren't for the charred skin and obvious nefarious design. Not for the first time, he felt angry for her. All that time she'd lost being stuck on that ship and all the trauma she'd gone through that she would have to carry with her for the rest of her life… It wasn't fair. And there was nothing he could do about that.

But there was one thing he could do. "Wherever you want to go," he started, "I'll make sure you get there."

"What about the rest of his guild?" Lucy asked skeptically, obviously unsure of whether to believe that things really were over.

"Our friends will take care of them," Happy chirped.

She still looked uncertain and Natsu realized that the only way they were going to get moving was if he pushed her. Lucy was still trying to regain her footing, both literally and figuratively. She just needed a little help.

Natsu stood and held out a hand to her. "Come with me."

Lucy stared at him for a moment, then down at his hand, her face a little flushed. She reached for his hand and gently placed hers in his.

"N-Natsu, right?" She looked away bashfully.

"Yeah," he replied. Grasping her hand, he turned and crouched down to lay her arm over his shoulder. Looping his hands under her knees, he lifted her onto his back. "And you're Lucy."

"And I'm Happy!" the cat chimed in.

She didn't resist him, instead relaxing into his back and wrapping her arms loosely around him. He could feel her soft breathe against his cheek, and the sense of calm that it offered was incomparable. She was here with him and he could finally protect her.

He felt her smile against his neck. "Nice to meet you both."

"So, where do we go?" Happy asked.

"Actually," Lucy began, "I...have a place in mind."

Chapter Text

Silence. It's not how he pictured things would be when they first met, but he knows that there are things that will never match your expectations in real life. He shouldn't be surprised.

He considers going in some other direction. After all, he's carrying her on his back and she's so tired there isn't much she can do to stop him. But no, he can't do that. If he does, he's no better than anyone else who took her against her will. Still, he doesn't have to worry about her when she's with him like this. Admittedly...he's a little reluctant to let her go. He's worried about her for so long. He just wants her to be safe.

They happen upon the mansion quicker than he wants, but by the time they reach the front door, he realizes that he actually admires what she's doing. Though he only knows her through her letters, her actions show him far more character than he could ever discern from her words. The uneasiness he was feeling dissipates, remembering what he's forgotten. She's strong. She just needed a hand to stand up again and that was why he offered his.

"I'm okay to stand," she says softly, and he sets her down, taking a second to make sure she can really keep herself upright.

He can feel Happy's concerned eyes burning into him. The cat hasn't come to the same conclusion and the words that come out of Natsu's mouth are probably not the ones he wants to hear. "Do you want me to come with you?"

She looks nervous. Nonetheless, she shakes her head with a smile. "No, thank you. I'll go by myself."

"Just yell if you need anything," he replies. He is not above burning a house down if that's what it takes to help her.

She nods and he watches her go. He wonders what she expects will happen and he hopes that she gets what she needs out of this.

Lucy stood in front of the doors of her childhood home. She had lived here for 17 years, and even after being on a slave ship for months, coming back here didn't feel like coming back home. It was ironic how long she had spent running away from prisons only to return to the first one she had escaped from. With Natsu, there was really no need to fear that she would be safe, but during the final scuffle with Gajeel, she'd been overtaken by the realization that this would not end unless she put an end to it herself. Her father was selfish and relentless, both qualities that were fed well by his fortune. Today it was Phantom Lord. Tomorrow it would just be another group of people after her if her father had his way.

She would not allow that. Not anymore. The prospect of taking her life into her own hands again when she had failed so miserably the first time was daunting, but she had allies this time. Ones she could clearly rely on.

She had enough keys on her today, but her house keys were not one of them. Instead, she knocked on the door. It wasn't long before she heard footsteps and someone pulled open the massive door.

It wasn't her father, but she hadn't expected it to be. It was a much friendlier face and one of the reasons she'd stayed in this mansion for so long.

"Hi, Spetto," she greeted the old maid who had been like a grandmother to her for her entire life.

Spetto's hand came off the door and flew to her mouth. "Lucy…? You're-you're home?"

"I'm here," Lucy said, smiling.

Without another word, Spetto threw the door open and pulled Lucy into a tight embrace. A warm feeling spread through her chest, remembering the feeling of being loved and the feeling of being hugged.

"We were all so worried about you. I'm so glad you're here," the woman said before she pulled back, holding Lucy at arm's length. She frowned. "Your clothes are in tatters, and you're all cut and bruised up. And you're so skinny!"

"I'm fine, really," Lucy assured her.

"Of course you're not. Look at you! It looks like you haven't washed your hair in a week and-" Her eyes landed on the burn marring Lucy's thigh and Lucy covered it quickly with a hand. Spetto searched her former young mistress's eyes. "What happened?"

Her lips pursed. "It really is good to see you, Spetto, but I'd like to see my dad."

The maid did not seem pleased by this turn of events, but she let go of Lucy all the same. "Alright. I'll go get him for you."

Spetto shot a look before she turned and disappeared up the grand staircase in the foyer. Lucy closed her eyes and let out a breath. The burden...was her own. And it was over. There was no sense in having people worry over what had already passed. She wanted to move forward.

That was why she was able to face the man who came walking down the stairs.

If her father was glad to see her, he didn't show it. As always, he was dressed impeccably, and when he laid his eyes on her, he didn't smile or move closer to make any sort of contact with her.

"I see you're back," he offered instead before searching the foyer. "Where's your escort?"

His nonchalance would have bothered her a few months ago, and on some level, it still stung, but she knew better than to put any hope into his words by now. "I came back by myself," she replied.

"So you've come to your senses," Jude said coldly.

Lucy shook her head. "No, father, I came to my senses the day I left this place." His expression didn't change, but she pressed on determinedly. "I came to tell you to leave me alone. I'm going to walk out of here again today, and you're not going to have anyone come after me this time."

Her father's temper flared. "You'll do as I tell you!"

"No," she repeated defiantly. "All you want to do is keep me here like a prisoner when you don't even look at me! You didn't even acknowledge my existence until I left!"

"You belong here," he snarled.

"I am not your property," Lucy snapped. "Ever since mom died, it feels like you've forgotten that."

Jude flinched visibly at the mention of Layla. If it was a cheap shot, she really didn't care. Her mother had died several years ago and that had been incredibly painful, but nothing in her life had hurt more than her father's neglect afterwards. Lucy had the house staff, but it was not the same as having her father. She'd needed him and he had abandoned her.

"I'm walking out that door today, whether or not you want me to," she continued, "but you need to stop chasing me. If you care about me even a little, you'll respect me."

Jude looked like he wanted to scream at her like he always did whenever she'd requested attention from him as a child, but was holding back. She didn't know why. Maybe because he knew what she was saying was the truth, or he was actually trying to give her respect she was asking for.

"Fine, I'll call off my people," he said scathingly. "Leave."

Lucy was a little taken aback. Despite the delivery, it was the warmest exchange she'd had with her father in years. Not once had he ever done what she'd asked.

"T-thank you," she replied, a little unsteady.

It was a strange way to end the conversation. Standing up for herself had been a way to get closure of some sort and her father agreeing with her request was definitely not offering her that feeling. However, there was nothing else to be done, so she nodded at him and turned toward the door.

"You'll be back here eventually when the world spits you out again."

She faltered in her step. There it was. He wasn't respecting her. He simply thought leaving her alone would make her regret her decision more. Somehow, knowing that he was being exactly the person she'd predicted he would be gave her a better sense of closure. She had a reason to stand up for herself.

But she'd gotten what she wanted and there was no point in staying further. Lucy looked back at Jude as he glared at her fiercely, challenging her to walk out the front door again.

"Goodbye, father," she said, before walking out the door without looking back.

Natsu perked up when he heard the door open, pushing off from where he was leaning on the wall to see Lucy emerge from the massive mansion. He checked her over closely as soon as he got visual, ensuring she had no new injuries. They might be blood, but everything he knew about Jude Heartfilia was anything but pleasant.

"I'm okay, really," Lucy assured him, somehow smiling after the ordeal.

"You're coming back to us, right?" Happy asked. "To Fairy Tail?"

"Lucy, wait!"

Natsu looked over to see a plump, little lady sprinting their way with tears in her eyes. She was breathing hard by the time she reached them.

"I-I know I can't stop you from leaving," the woman began as she placed a hand on Lucy's arm, "but I wanted to at least give you this."

The woman handed Lucy a lacy pink band of some sort. He had no idea what it was, but judging by Lucy's soft expression, it was something important.

"Thank you," Lucy said before embracing the woman. "I'll write you once I have everything figured out."

"I'll look forward to your letter."

The two separated and the chubby lady retreated to the mansion. Lucy used the pink band to secure a pigtail at the side of her head.

"That looks nice," Natsu commented, and it was true. Everything else she was wearing was a result of all the horrible things that had happened to her. The hairstyle was something that was just so uniquely her.

"O-oh, really?" Her cheeks flushed as he nodded, though he wondered why. "Thank you…"

"You're coming back to Fairy Tail with us, aren't you?" Happy asked.

She let out a light laugh. "You know, the whole reason I ended up in this message is because I heard there was a Fairy Tail mage when I was in Magnolia. I had to check it out and I ended up getting caught in a love spell Bora had cast," Lucy said. It was a moment she had gone over in her mind multiple times, berating herself for being so stupid, being unable to break out of his spell, but now it felt like she had made peace with it. What happened was undeniably going to leave scars, but she was finally really and truly free thanks to the mages she had always admired. "I thought maybe I could join. I'm a big fan of Mirajane Strauss."

"Well, you're a mage, aren't you? You can still join," Natsu replied as he cocked his head at her doubtful manner. "Except, this time, you'll be with me-someone who's really from Fairy Tail."

"I-I don't know."

Happy frowned. "What do you mean?"

Natsu watched her as she fidgeted with her fingers. "I mean, I'm not...very strong. You came here because you were trying to rescue me and I couldn't...do anything."

He stared at her. She refused to look at him, but he could tell right away that she really thought that. He reached out and placed a hand on her head, eliciting a jolt of surprise.

"What are you talking about? Your magic is just like Yukino's, and she's plenty strong. You even beat up that guy Gajeel with it," he stated as her eyes met his in astonishment. "And I know it wasn't easy for you being on that ship for so long, but you still somehow sent out a message to ask for help. It sounds to me like you did a lot."

Lucy flushed. "Um… But I-"

"You what?" Natsu asked. "You want to join Fairy Tail, right? So come with me."

It took a few seconds, but eventually she nodded, smiling softly under his hand. "Yes…"

A week after the major decision Juvia had made, things had changed more drastically than she could have ever expected. When she had woken up in the Fairy Tail headquarters of all places, she hadn't exactly been sure what to do, especially after the jumbled fragments of memories had finally finally started to assemble themselves into something comprehensible.

Her guild, the one place she thought she could put her trust in, had turned around and hurt her for their own gain. She had a body that was made out of water. Most things wouldn't hurt her, but Jose had chosen to use a magic that knew would. Her initial thought was to turn her guilt inward, because she had been the one who'd done the betraying, but then other thoughts trickled in. How could they have done that so carelessly? After she had been one of them for such a long time? Was it normal for family to try and kill one of their own the moment they no longer saw eye-to-eye?

And then there was Gray, who had been by her side when she'd woken up. It was a really strange feeling, having someone there for her when she had always just stood on her own two feet. Of course she'd gotten injured on missions before, but nobody in her guild made a fuss over her when it happened. That kind of thing was just standard.

Yet Gray had been there to tell her he was glad she was okay, and he was steadfast in his resolve to stay there too, stubbornly telling off his guildmates even when they made fun of him. She recovered quickly enough thanks to the Fairy Tail healer's care, chatting with Gray about some of the shallow things they used to discuss back when they'd see each other at the cafe. It really felt like he cared about her.

It was the day she was given the okay to leave that really surprised her. By herself in the infirmary, the kind old woman had told her she could go. Juvia had no idea why she had expected an invitation to stay instead. She was not part of this group, and no matter how much she enjoyed Gray's company, the reality was that she did not belong here.

So she left, feeling confused about what to do and where to go. Her home felt empty when she arrived and she'd stayed there ever since, wondering if she should somehow find her own guild and apologize for what she'd done. It was something she'd contemplated for hours before the decision was made for her when Gajeel Redfox showed up at her door.

He looked absolutely awful. His wild hair somehow looked even more untamed as he stood in front of her. He was clearly recovering from black eyes in addition to how bloodshot they were. Holding his midsection, he was hunched over slightly, obviously carrying internal damage that hadn't been properly taken care of.

"Gajeel-kun?" She stared at him, gaping.

Gajeel didn't bother asking her for permission and simply stepped inside, Juvia moving out of the way to accommodate him. He limped over to her couch and threw himself down.

"This is your fault," he said flatly.

Juvia blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Our guild," he continued, though his tone sounded neither happy nor angry. "Master announced that we're disbanding. I hope you're happy."

She couldn't even close the door, she was in so much shock. "...What?"

"You heard me," he groused, his voice somewhat muffled by his face in her cushions.

Juvia whirled, this time swinging the door closed before she marched over to her former guild companion. "Gajeel-kun must be joking. Master was full of pride. He would never disband the guild."

"That's exactly why he did," Gajeel shot back, rolling over to glare at her. "Do you even know what happened to them or were you too busy shacking up with the enemy to pay attention?"

"Juvia knows," she replied heatedly, feeling somewhat offended that Gajeel would think she was that willfully naive.

"So then you don't care."

Her mouth stayed firmly shit, unable to articulate exactly how she was feeling. Obviously this was surprising, but her feelings were far more complicated than "not caring." Phantom Lord had been the closest she had to get family after her grandfather had passed, and then her Master had ordered her killed if she was in the way of their goals. How was she supposed to feel?

"I don't know how I feel," she said finally.

"Of course you don't care. I'm sure having the Fairy boy around is exactly what you wanted," Gajeel drawled.

She'd been trying not to take things personally since she knew how devastated Gajeel must be by this development on top of her decision to go against their Master's orders, but there was only so much she could take.

"Master ordered Juvia killed," she hissed, stomping toward the door again. "Gajeel-kun is a jerk!"

Juvia didn't bother to wait for his reaction before she left, feeling like she'd been kicked out of her own apartment. Her legs carried her through the town aimlessly. She was no less sure about where to go than when she'd still been at home. Stupid Gajeel. Things were so black and white with him, but there was no denying there was a grey area when it came to their guild.

Somehow, she found herself at the cafe she always frequented before this whole mission to find the Heartfilia daughter turned her life upside down. It was the cafe where she'd met Gray for the first time and she was still figuring out if it had been a good or bad thing. She was glad she was no longer living a life where a lie was the first thing that she believed, but things had been a lot simpler back then. At least she used to know where she stood day-to-day.

Juvia wasn't under the impression that having a cup of tea would solve anything for her, but it was better than wandering around the town aimlessly while her friend was being a big jerk in her own home. Small comforts were all she could possibly look for right now.

A few minutes later, she was sitting in her usual spot with a teacup in front of her, back to her original conundrum. Discovering that Phantom Lord had been disbanded was throwing her for a loop, but there was no denying she could see Jose doing such a thing. If his perception was that they'd "lost" to Fairy Tail, that was an extreme reaction that was characteristic of someone like Master.

But...that was it? A group that had dedicated their time to becoming a collective being-a family-could be broken apart as easily as that?

"I thought I might find you here."

She looked up shyly. "Hello, Gray-sama."

He was handsome as always, and somehow still wearing his shirt. At this point, she was used to his stripping habit and almost preferred him when he had his clothes off. Obviously there were some less than pure reasons for that, but he also seemed much more comfortable when he was down to his boxers. It was always better to be around someone who was comfortable rather than someone who was always fidgeting.

"You left pretty quickly," Gray replied as he sat down across from her. "You didn't even say anything."

"Was there anything for Juvia to say?" she asked evenly. "Juvia thanked Porlyusica-sama for her help."

He looked away, maybe irritated. "Yeah, I guess you did."

They sat in silence for a full minute, only briefly interrupted by Gray ordering his coffee. After that, it was back to quiet. Juvia contemplated making small talk, but she knew neither of them really wanted to hear it. He'd come here for more than that and she was too afraid to find out why.

Too bad when his coffee came, he pushed further. "You couldn't even let me say anything."

Juvia swallowed nervously. "Gray-sama…"

"Don't gear up for an excuse," he said firmly. "It was on purpose. We both know that."

Gray held the coffee mug in both hands while Juvia sunk into her seat. She didn't expect Gray to seek her out. In fact, she hadn't expected to see him ever again. He'd gotten what he wanted from her and had no reason to speak to her anymore. She was sure that his attentiveness at her bedside had only been out of guilt for using her or defeating her in battle. Gray was probably the kindest man she'd met in her life, but he was still a man. They were always looking for something else.

How ironic. Juvia had come here to escape from her jerk friend, but now she almost wished she'd stayed. Though Gajeel had been right about her enjoying Gray's presence, her feelings for him were messy. She never knew what she could trust when it came to him. She was so used to following her heart and after Bora, it was obvious it had led her astray. How could she claim to have learned anything if all she did was let her feelings for a man drive her again?

"I heard about Phantom Lord," he said, but his voice didn't reveal how he felt about that information at all. The one thing that had become abundantly clear when she was still at the Fairy Tail headquarters was the collective disdain of their attitude toward her former guild. All of them were rather disgusted by her Master's treatment of her.

"Juvia only heard about it too," she admitted.

"What are you going to do now?"

The question irritated her. How was she supposed to know? That was the whole reason she was here in the first place! She'd never thought the day the rain went away would be the same day her whole life fell apart. Gray wasn't a real factor when she didn't even know what to do with herself.

"Gray-sama, why are you here?" she asked as emotions overwhelmed her.

"Because you didn't give me a chance to say goodbye," Gray told her, holding her gaze with an intensity nobody had ever looked at her with before. "You didn't give me a chance to ask you to stay."

Her heart pounded. No. No, no, no. He didn't mean that. This was stupid. "Gray-sama…"

"Look, I didn't get to before, so now I'm saying what I want to say," he pressed on determinedly. "I… I hurt you as much as anyone else, even if it wasn't what I wanted to do, so I know that it's kind of hypocritical for me to feel so angry about what your guild did, but I do. Every time I think about it. They were supposed to protect you, and yet they were the ones who ended up…"

He trailed off, swallowing the anger that appeared to be rising just from talking about it.

"You put your trust in their hands and they used it against you," Gray said, obviously seething. "I just...want to support you. All of us do."

Juvia glanced at him in surprise. "'All of us?'" she repeated in confusion.

"Our Master invited you personally to be part of our guild," Gray replied, a blush starting to form on his face. "And to be honest, I'd like it if you were part of it too."

What was he saying? She was trying not to trust so easily, but every word out of his mouth sounded so earnest. And the way he was looking at her made it feel like he saw something in her that was more than just friendship. Juvia had been in this scenario so many times in the past and bought into the fantasy, and each time, she had been burned in the end. This time, she knew she shouldn't believe him. She knew, and yet right now, she wanted to believe him more than ever.

"Gray-sama, can I trust you again?" she asked as she looked down into her tea. "Will you show me that I can?"

"I promise you can, and I'll come here everyday to show you that if I have to."

Someone wiser than her might not have taken his words at face value, not after all the scars she had in the past for jumping into things head first because she just wanted to believe that this person could be different. This time...she didn't just want to. She looked at Gray and her heart told it was going to be okay. It wasn't the wild desperation she usually felt when she'd pursued men in the past. There was a calmness about it-a trust in herself that she was making the right decision, like the serenity that had come over when she'd finally stood up for herself against Bora.

"You don't have to," Juvia replied. "I believe you. Juvia...would like a place to go again."

He smiled at her and she felt her own face start to redden. She wasn't scared anymore. He looked so genuinely glad to hear her response that she didn't think there was any way that he might be faking it. And Fairy Tail...as far as she could tell, they were nothing like Jose had ever described them to be. It hadn't taken her very long to figure that out. There was just one itty bitty issue that she had to address.

"But Gray-sama, Juvia has a request…" she started, glancing at him shyly.

He tilted his head in confusion, waiting for her to continue. If believing she could trust him was already this difficult, this request was going to be a doozy…

Fairy Tail was a very energetic place. Even with all she had read about them in magazines, it couldn't quite prepare her for what things would be like in real life. Mirajane, a woman who had been an idol to her for years, was even more beautiful in person than on the printed pages. The mage who had drunk every town dry in each mission location she'd visited was none other than Cana Aberona, and she was just as feisty without the alcohol than she was with it.

Then there was Levy McGarden who Lucy clicked with in an instant. They were both huge lovers of books and had similar tastes in genres. On a different level, both of them were also dealing with the effects of a traumatic experience in their lives. While hers had been a single incident, Levy was still completely shaken after being brutalized by Gajeel. It was a strange disconnect for Lucy, having met him and beaten him with Natsu's help, because overall, he didn't seem like such a bad guy. Of course, she was never going to discount Levy's experience when she had her own constantly buzzing in her head.

In general, everyone she'd met in the guild had been extremely kind to her. Lucy watched the pink-haired woman who had been taking care of her since the day she'd arrived, a little rough around the edges but with a healing touch like no other. Porlyusica definitely had a way about her that really ensured you knew she cared.

"This will be the last application," as she finished putting the balm on Lucy's thigh. "I know you'd rather it all be gone, but it's been there for too long. The best I can do is help the skin heal properly."

Lucy nodded and looked down the brand. She'd known it was probably never going to go away, but a part of her had still been clinging to the hope it would just disappear and remain only as a horrible memory. Now she had to accept the fact that it would always be a part of her. It was funny; when she'd actually been on the ship, it was so much easier to deal with that fact. Now she had nightmares about waking up there despite being in a place that was safe. She'd been naive to think things would be just fine and dandy as soon as she was free. She would see that brand everyday for the rest of her life. Maybe she would never be okay for the rest of her life.

Porlyusica shot her a knowing look. "This is hard for you. I know that. But recovery takes time. You'll have lots of it now that you're here."

"I really appreciate how much you've helped me, Porlyusica-san," she said, ducking her head a little in embarrassment.

"Well, this place would fall apart without me considering what a walking disaster that old geezer is," the healer replied with a wry smile. "And what does he do? He gathers all the walking disasters into one guild and pretends to be surprised when things quite literally blow up in his face. Fairy Tail could use a few more calm souls like you. Now let's weigh you and we'll be done."

As was routine by more, Lucy got out of the bed and stood on the nearby scale. She watched as Porlyusica observed the results.

"Good. You're up two pounds from yesterday," she said. "It's only been a week, but you're putting on weight nicely. It's going to be a bit longer before your muscles are back up to strength. Just keep going about your day like normal and you'll be completely healthy again."

Lucy nodded. "Thank you."

"Lucy."

Kagura came striding into the room with an air of confidence she hadn't had back when they were stuck on that ship. The time away from it had done wonders for her. She looked like she was ready for battle and nothing like the somewhat apathetic girl on Bora's ship. It wasn't the first day Lucy had seen Kagura since then, but much like herself, she was better and stronger every single day that passed. She was looking lethal in her new outfit, a formal battle tunic over leggings and boots with a sword strapped around her waist.

Lucy smiled. Seeing her friend look so good was just something that made her feel better about this whole situation. "Hey, Kagura."

Porlyusica wrote something down on her chart and acknowledged the other young woman. "I'm about done anyway. You two can have whatever little chat you want to have. Kagura, remember what we talked about."

"Yes. I will be increasing my training gradually, and only according to the schedule you've placed upon me," Kagura said with a resigned compliance in her voice.

"And?" Porlyusica prompted.

"I will not train any more than you have physically deemed me fit to."

"Good," replied the healer with a nod. She stepped aside to let Lucy off the scale and back onto the bed as she gathered up her things. "You take care of yourself now."

Lucy thanked the old woman again before she left, then sat down on her infirmary bed feeling a little weary. Admittedly, as much as she wanted to feel normal again, she'd just been downright exhausted since the whole ordeal with Bora. Having an actual bed to sleep in every night was her happy place right now.

"So what brings you here?" she asked.

Kagura was stoic as always as she moved forward to stand by Lucy. "It's time for me to say goodbye."

She tilted her head. "You're leaving?"

Kagura nodded. "I appreciate all the help Fairy Tail has offered me, but I'm ready to be on my own again. I have training that needs to be done. My Master will not be happy that I've been gone for so long."

"I understand," Lucy replied. "I hope you get back to what's important to you, and while I wish neither of us had ever ended up on that ship, I'm glad that you were there with me. I wouldn't be here without you."

"Likewise," Kagura said, "and I mean that. I think you underestimate yourself, Lucy. Your strength of will was greater than my own. I would've given up if it weren't for you."

Lucy blushed. "Thank you."

"Fairy Tail is full of good people. You'll do well here, and if there's anything you need, come find me," she continued, looking assured. "I don't think I'll have to worry about you either way. Natsu-san seems rather dedicated to you."

Her face only grew hotter. "He's-he's a really good person."

That broke Kagura's stoicism as a small smirk appeared on her face. "I suppose that's true as well." She didn't say anything for a moment, letting Lucy sit in the embarrassment for a bit. "He'll take care of you when you can't care for yourself."

"S-safe travels, Kagura," was the only thing Lucy could sputter in response, trying hard to change the subject.

Kagura gave a final nod before leaving the infirmary with a satisfied smirk on her face. That girl sure knew how to cause trouble. After all, Natsu was just a friend. A really, really kind friend who she didn't take for granted. She couldn't possibly be unappreciative after all he'd gone through to save her when the only thing he had to go on in the first place was a silly message in a bottle.

Lucy wandered out into the guild hall, trying to keep the "Kagura" thoughts to a minimum. Fortunately, Yukino came and grabbed her by the arm almost immediately after entering, allowing for a good distraction.

"Did your check up go well?" the young girl asked her even as she dragged Lucy gently toward the bar. Yukino beamed when Lucy nodded and began pulling her harder. "That's good! Natsu-nii has a surprise for you!"

There was little choice but to go along with her. For only being twelve years old, the girl was freakishly strong, and Lucy's malnourished body wasn't going to put up a lot of resistance either way. Not that she minded, of course. Yukino was the sweetest girl she'd ever met. She'd been completely embarrassed when she found out her writing had been making Natsu's letters come off as female. Independent of that, she was intelligent and kind. It was nice having another Celestial Spirit Mage around who understood and valued the spirits, as well as appreciated the bond a mage could share with them. After a tearful reunion with each of her spirits, she'd discovered that the only spirit Yukino had actually called from her keys was Aquarius, and not for one moment had she presumed to forge a contract with those spirits herself. If that wasn't a sign of a good heart, Lucy didn't know what was.

"I found Lucy-san," Yukino said as they reached the bar where there were already a bunch of people crowded along the counter. Gray Fullbuster, who she'd met in the infirmary hovering over Juvia when she'd arrived at Fairy Tail, was fittingly still at Juvia's side. Natsu and Happy were sitting on stools as they watched Mira preparing something she couldn't see at the bar.

"Good!" Natsu said as he jumped off his seat to rush over and usher her into the group. "Come on. You're gonna like this."

She found herself on the stool Natsu had just vacated, watching as Mira pulled away from Juvia. Her new battle dress was more revealing than her old one, leaving her legs fully visible. As they came into view, Lucy could see the freshly stamped mark of Fairy Tail on Juvia's thigh.

"Gray-sama, Juvia is one of you now!" she exclaimed as she clung to Gray's arm, beaming.

Gray, who didn't seem like the type of person who would be open to these kinds of exchanges, surprisingly placed a gentle hand on her head and smiled. "Yeah, you are."

"Thank you, Mirajane-san," Juvia said. Mirajane waved it off before the water mage's eyes landed on Lucy. "Are you going next?"

She froze up a little at the question, realizing that this was in fact the surprise Natsu had for her. Considering everything that had happened in front of her in the last two minutes, she didn't know why she hadn't expected this. Back when she'd left her father's house, Natsu had quite literally asked her if she wanted to join Fairy Tail and she'd told him yes. Her answer hadn't changed. Of course she wanted to be part of Fairy Tail.

But seeing Juvia's new guild mark on a place that was so close to her ugly existing mark… It was hard. Anything on her skin almost felt like a mark of ownership all over again, and while she knew it wasn't true, she couldn't help but think it.

Natsu's hand came down on her shoulder, shaking her from her frightened state.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his kind eyes full of concern, but the words were caught in her throat and she couldn't find it in herself to reply. That didn't faze him. "Is it the stamp?"

Very hesitantly, she nodded. The last thing she wanted to do was cut him out when he had been so supportive of her this whole time.

"If you're not ready for this, that's okay," he reassured her. "You don't need to get the mark. It doesn't matter. You'd still be one of us in every way that counts."

Her stomach fluttered under his gaze. The strength of his voice, his determined aura, and the intensity at which he looked at her… To say Natsu was effective at conveying his emotions would be an understatement. It had quickly become clear that he was a man of dedication, and one of the things he had dedicated himself to was her. When people said cheeky things about their relationship, she'd deny it, but the truth was, they weren't far off the mark. Lucy had never met someone whose feelings went so deep for her, regardless of whether or not that might just be purely platonic. It was impossible not to feel something in return.

Slowly, her eyes turned to the soft looks she was getting from all the others. Happy, Yukino, Mirajane, Gray, and Juvia… It took her a second to realize they weren't waiting for her to get it; they were waiting for her to decide whether she wanted to get it or not. It was her choice. Nobody was going to force her-violate her after drugging her-so they could slap a vile sign of their ownership on her body. It was a symbol of family, friendship, love, and support. The initial fear wore off and the answer of what to do next was so obvious.

Lucy stepped toward Mirajane and held her right hand out, palm facing down. "I'd like it here please."

"Are you sure?" Mira asked, her voice kind and without judgement.

She nodded, knowing the only thing in her life that she had ever been so sure about was when she'd taken Natsu's hand.

"Okay then."

Mira pressed the stamp to her hand and when she pulled it away, a pink mark remained. Lucy smiled. She was a member of Fairy Tail.

Yukino cheered and grabbed Lucy's hand, jumping up and down in celebration.

"Welcome to the guild," Mirajane said with a bright smile.

"We're glad to have you," Gray said.

"I'm really a member," Lucy stated a little incredulously. It was crazy to think that even if she had been staying here for the past week, she was now really part of a guild she had admired for so long and constantly read about in magazines.

"Aye!" Happy chimed in. "You're part of the family!"

She was suddenly overtaken by Natsu, who had wrapped his arms over her shoulders. Lucy blushed, but he didn't even seem aware that he was making her flustered. "Alright! Now we can go on missions together and everything!"

"Natsu-nii, Lucy-san is still in recovery," Yukino reminded him, hands on her hips.

"After she's better," he emphasized as he finally removed himself from her. He pumped his fist in the air. "We'll be the strongest team in Fairy Tail!"

Gray rolled his eyes. "Don't be an idiot. Anyone would be stronger than you. I bet Juvia and I could outmatch the two of you."

Juvia seemed to swoon a bit. "Juvia would love to form a team with Gray-sama!"

"I'd wipe the floor with both of you and Lucy's mermaid lady would clean you up," Natsu shot back as he advanced on Gray.

Gray gave as good as he got, butting heads with the other man, and Lucy wondered why nobody was stepping in at this point. While Juvia also looked slightly puzzled by the interaction, Mira, Yukino, and Happy didn't seem at all fazed by this. In fact, all of them were smiling.

"Didn't realize you were so eager for me to kick your ass!" Gray snarled, now standing in his boxers and socks as he and Natsu grappled, their hands locked together. He gained a little ground, forcing the fire dragon slayer to step back.

"You wish you could!" Natsu retorted, resisting Gray's attempts to overpower him. When his foot slid back just a little more, he slammed his head against Gray's.

Lucy's eyes widened as Gray went flying. And he really went flying. His body went crashing into several tables, knocking dishes to the ground and breaking chair legs as he went. The even more shocking part was how he simply rose from all the splinters without so much as a groan, and completely naked for that matter. She let out a squeak and raised her hand to censor his body for her own eyes.

"O-oh my…" she heard Juvia breathe nearby.

Gray now had his hands out in a peculiar position, one she assumed was for using magic. "You're gonna pay for that one."

"And you're gonna make me?" Natsu taunted him.

A hulking man came barreling into Gray, sending him tumbling into more furniture. It took a moment, but Lucy then realized this was Elfman Strauss, Mira's younger brother who had been in magazine articles simply by association. "Destruction of furniture is not very manly!" he proclaimed as if he hasn't just been responsible for some five seconds ago.

"You knocked over my drink, you buffoon!" Cana shouted as she joined them. "Did you and your stupid manliness think about that?"

"Nyeh nyeh, you can't hit me!" Natsu mocked them.

"Hey, guys, why don't we all just calm down…"

"Shut up, Max!"

"All of you pipe down! You're the reason our guild always looks so stupid!"

"Aw, Laxus, leave 'em alone. They're just having a little f-what the hell? Why'd you hit me? I was defending you?"

At this point, there was way too much going on for Lucy to follow. The guild master's grandson had joined in along with a slightly older man she had never seen before. Someone had smacked Natsu in the face, but she wasn't sure who. Neither did he, apparently, because he was just throwing fists at whoever's body came his way.

"STOP YOUR FIGHTING!" Erza the Titania boomed as she threw one person into another.

"Isn't this...sort of getting out of hand?" Lucy asked, not quite believing what she was seeing with her own two eyes.

Mirajane shrugged, a beautiful smile on her face. "Oh, this is pretty normal." A glass promptly hit her in the head, causing her temple to split open, but she barely moved on impact. Lucy gaped. "We end up doing a lot of rebuilding."

"And if that's what we have to do, then so be it."

They turned to see Makarov striding into the room. Lucy had been introduced to the Fairy Tail Guild Master days ago, and while he had been nothing but kind and welcoming, she couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by him despite his short stature. He stood next to Mirajane looking like a prideful father.

"We've all got our differences and those differences are accepted. I'd never want anyone to be anything but themselves here. However, some of our members prefer to express themselves in an excessively physical way," Makarov explained, looking only mildly irritated.

"Juvia thinks it's nice," said the other girl as a chair leg flew through her body. "Fighting one day and friends the next. Is that not what a family is like?"

Lucy clutched her hand to her chest, looking down at the Fairy Tail stamp with a smile. "I don't know, but I think I'd like that."

She jumped slightly when Natsu's body came crashing down in front of her, landing on his back. His body was looking a little scuffed, but nothing like it had on the day he'd saved her from Gajeel. He glanced up at her puzzled face.

"Are ya having fun?" he asked, grinning.

Lucy offered him a hand which he took, helping him up. "I am. I… I'm glad you found me." She peeked at him shyly. "I'd really lost hope that anyone would find me."

Natsu gave her a long look, long enough that she felt her face heating up. Suddenly, he wrapped his arms around her.

"I'll never stop," he told her, his voice low as it rumbled in her ear. "If you're ever lost again, I won't stop looking for you no matter where you are, and now you have all of us to look for you too." He let go of her, giving her a brilliant smile. "This is where you belong."

She looked around at the craziness ensuing in the guild hall. This wasn't fighting; it was liveliness and love. They weren't seriously trying to hurt each other. It was just the way they interacted, much like brothers and sisters. Lucy had never wanted to be part of something so much in her life. "Y-yeah."

"Now come on! We're gonna go find a mission to complete!" Natsu said triumphantly, grabbing onto her wrist.

She didn't resist, but looked at him a little curiously. Natsu was such a whirlwind, it was hard to keep up with what he was thinking. "A mission…?"

"Come on, Happy!"

"Aye!"

"Natsu," Mirajane called after him, "she can't go on a mission yet. She's still recovering!"

He continued making his way through the chaos, only briefly looking back. "Fine! Then we'll go on an adventure!" He grinned at Lucy, still dragging her along. "We'll do something fun."

At this point, Lucy had no idea what his definition of "fun" was, considering he'd just started a massive fight in the guild hall, but the warmth of his hand in hers was reassuring and she couldn't think of anyone else she'd rather be with right now.

She gripped his hand in turn and followed after him. "Okay!"