- Lucy -

I leaned my head against the wall and stared up at the ceiling. Thoughts of Luna kept racing through my mind, I hope she's holding up well. But if she's with Juvia then she should be completely fine. I just need to talk to Natsu and see what the hell these guys are talking about. Kidnapping? What kind of evidence do they have against us?

"Lucy Heartfilia. Time for questioning." A man emerged from the shadows, unlocking the cell door. I stood up from the dirty ground and followed behind him with my head low. None of this makes any sense. "Did you guys bring Natsu in? I wanna talk to him." I spoke up from the awkward silence.

"Impossible. He's being kept at another wing of the prison, you two are forbidden from speaking until your sentencing." the man grunted, opening a door that led to a dimly lit room. I sat down while he took a seat across of me, eyeing me from head to toe suspiciously. "You might as well make this short and confess to your crimes. Where are the people?"

I furrowed my eyebrows with annoyance, "What people? I haven't done anything wrong!" I defended.

"Oh yeah? Then why do we have multiple witnesses that place you at the scene?" he barked.

"Scene? You guys have no idea what you're talking about! I've been in Magnolia for months!" The man sat back into his chair and sighed, "Who started the fire?"

"Fire?"

"It was your partner wasn't it? He's a fire dragon slayer for christ sake."

None of this makes sense! How are we tangled up in this mess? "We didn't start any fire and we didn't kidnap anyone! Can't you get that through your head?" I shouted. But he didn't flinch, he just reached for something under the table, ignoring what I said and placed a few photographs in front of me. "Do you recognize any of these people?" he asked.

My eyes scanned them in front of me and one stood out from the rest. He noticed my silence and a slight grin formed on his face, "So you do recognize someone?"

I suddenly felt nervous, I don't know why. I knew I wasn't guilty of anything but for some reason I felt like I had just set myself up for failure. The man pointed at a photo of a woman, "You remember this woman don't you?" I reluctantly nodded my head and muttered, ".... she's the lady from the spa ....."

"Yes. She was the owner of the spa you and your partner had visited not too long ago. However, she was reported missing the next day. And according to her records, you two were the only ones staying there that night."

"Okay? That still has nothing to do with us. It's just a coincidence!" I argued. But he pointed at another photo, "Do you recognize this woman?" he asked. Though I shook my head this time, "No. She doesn't look familiar." I said truthfully.

"Well according to your partner, he remembers her from the clinic you two were at after you visited the spa. He claims this woman was the one who helped nurse you after you had fainted." he explained. But I shrugged my shoulders, "So what? How is that related to any of this?"

"She went missing as well. But your partner claims that she was already missing the day you two were scheduled to leave. Is that true?"

I nodded my head, "Yes. We woke up the next day and the building was vacant. You have to believe us! Investigate more and you'll see we're telling the truth!"

"We could. But any evidence leading to this woman's whereabouts were destroyed in the fire your partner caused. Coincidence? You two could have been covering up any evidence you left behind."

I shut my eyes with frustration, "Despite all of that, we truly had nothing to do with their disappearances!" The man grabbed a cardboard box from the ground and dumped out more photos, making my eyes go wide. "Every one of these people were reported missing within the past two weeks. We have no leads connected to any of them except for you and your partner to these two women. So just give it up. Where are they?"

- Juvia -

I swirled the straw around in my drink and heaved out a sigh. Mirajane grinned sadly while wiping down the mugs from the bar, "Is she still sitting outside of the guild?"

"Yeah. She refuses to eat. She said she's just waiting for Lucy to get back." I explained. But Mirajane couldn't help but giggle, "Sounds like something Natsu would do." I pondered about it for a second and laughed along with her. "You're right .... they both really love her, huh?"

"Of course. And I'm sure she loves them just as much. I'm not sure if Lucy loves Natsu the way he does anymore but — she'll always hold him dear in her heart." Mirajane explained, finishing up her chores around the guild. She then wiped her forehead for sweat and offered to check up on Luna for me but I shook my head. "I think she just wants to be alone right now. She's been through enough."

- Luna -

I kicked the rock out from under my foot and sighed, what time will mom be home? What about Natsu? How come those men took them away? Not to mention, everyone seems to be keeping secrets from me. No one wants to tell me anything.

A weird rumble echoed through the air making me clasp my stomach from the slight pain. "Agh. I'm starving ....." I groaned. But I didn't wanna eat alone. I want mom or Natsu to come back so we can eat together. Actually — I kind of want dad to come here. I haven't seen him since that time I had a nightmare.

"Luna ...?"

I glanced up and seen a tall man, giving me a warmhearted smile. "Dad ....?" I muttered out. He kneeled down in front of me and ruffled my hair, "Look at you .... what are you doing out here by yourself?" he asked. Though I couldn't help but smile widely, it was as if the gods were listening to my thoughts and had answered my prayers.

I hesitated for a second before looking up at him, I stared into his blue eyes that were warmly welcoming me. I remember them. I remember his eyes and blonde hair, his dumb earring and arrogant grin, how annoyed he would get when I would win our petty fights even though he would let me win half the time. I remember how much he loved mom and how close they were.

" .... are you okay? Luna ...?" he mumbled once more, snapping me out of my train of thought. I felt my lip curl into an even wider smile as I pounced on him and into his arms, catching him offguard. "Dad!" I cheered.

"L-Luna!" he looked at me with confusion but I just shook my head and smiled, "I'm glad you're here now." He was still a bit shocked from what I had said but in the end, he had hugged me back with relief. "I missed you so much." he cried out.

- Natsu -

I felt like I've been here for years, I thought to myself, looking around the old dark cell they had thrown me in. There's nothing to do here and it smells like an old man. I peered down both ends of the halls and realized I was all alone. "Hello? Anyone there? I'm hungry!" I shouted. No response.

A sigh escaped my mouth as I sat back down and rubbed my empty stomach. I could really go for some fish right about now. I bet if Lucy was here she would yell at me for thinking about food in this situation. I hope she's okay cause if not then someone is gonna have to pay for it.

These guys in the Magic Council aren't playing any games nowadays. They were questioning me for hours earlier, some things seemed unrelated to our situation though. The guy even asked me what I ate for breakfast. But something that really got me thinking was what happened at the clinic that day. They wanted all the details and everything that I could give them but I can barely remember it myself.

"Natsu, nows not the time. Why can't you just believe me when I say I get a bad feeling about this place!" Lucy scolded me, leaving the room and roaming down the hallways. But I was starving! I couldn't help it!

"Will you stop being a child and just guide us out of here?"

"Fine .... we just have to go down these stairs." I answered. Lucy's eyes lit up with relief when she seen the entrance down the hall, she sprinted out from behind me and disappeared behind the door. "Wait up!" I chuckled, chasing after her.

"Natsu ..."

I slowed down a bit and peered behind me, but there was no one there. Hm, I thought I heard someone call my name. I turned back to follow Lucy again until a certain scent began to fill my nose, it was a familiar odor. Someone I had smelled before, I couldn't quite place my finger on it but I knew it wasn't good. I got into a fighting stance and called out, "Who's there? Show yourself!"

For a split second I seen a shadow move across the other end of the hallway, someone I had recognized.

Suddenly, all I seen was red, it hurts. It hurts so bad. My ears were ringing but I could hear something in the distance. It was a voice. "..... tsu .... Natsu!"

I tried to open my eyes as I gasped for air, "Lu .... cy ....."

I shot my head up when the cell door opened, the man motioning for me to hurry up. So I pushed myself off the ground and followed him to a room, a different one from before. I sat down and watched as he held the door open for another man. It was the chairman of the magic council. We sat in an awkward silence for a few seconds before he spoke up. "You're probably wondering when you're going to be released. But we'll discuss that later. What I want to talk about is that day in the clinic. You said you seen someone? Him?"

"I've told you everything I know. Why do we need to go over what happened that day again?" I asked, a bit of annoyance showed in my tone.

"Because I want to explain myself and how he found you."

- Sting -

I chuckled loudly and pointed at the cloud hovering off to the right of us, "Looks like a dog." But Luna disagreed with me, "No ways. It looks like an umbrella!"

"What? Are you crazy? It's a dog!" I argued. "No way! There's a handle right there!" she pointed. I squinted my eyes and mocked her, "Handle my butt. That's the dogs tail!" I stood my ground. I couldn't see her face since we were laying on our backs, staring up at the sky but I could feel her rolling her eyes at me. "Those eyes better not be wandering and rolling." I warned.

"Or what?" she challenged. My mouth gaped open as I sat up to look at her, "Three years and you still wanna pick a fight with me?" She stood up from the ground with an odd smirk slowly forming on her lips but suddenly, I could feel her whole atmosphere changing. She frowned and sat back down next to me.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I .... sorry. I remember fighting with you like this and I thought I could do it ... but I can't." she muttered. "You don't have to force yourself to be the old you." I explained. But she shook her head and fiddled with her fingers a bit, "I'm not forcing myself at all. Everything that I just said and did was genuine ... it's just that ... I also remember using magic with you during our fights. But mom pretty much banned me from using it."

My eyes perked up with interest when she said that, Lucy really banned her from using magic? That sounds like torture. Especially since Luna used to love fighting and causing trouble. But I gave her a reassuring smile, "I can teach ya. Just don't tell your mom." I whispered.

Her eyes lit up with excitement as she pranced around, "Really? Yesss! You're the best dad!" she sang, jumping on top of me. I laughed at her stupidity until I noticed a figure waving at us in the distance. "Aunt Juvia!" Luna exclaimed, running into her arms.

"Hey Juvia. How've you been?"

"Fine, thanks. You guys seem to be having a lot of fun." She gleamed a smile, nuzzling her face into Luna's causing her to erupt into giggles. Luna nodded her head vigorously, "So much fun! You wanna join us?" Though Juvia shook her head and looked up at me, "I don't mean to rain on your guys parade but I think it's time for Luna to come back to the guild. It's getting late and she still needs to eat dinner."

"Oh, that's okay I can bring her back. Actually I was hoping to take her back to Sabertooth with me." I explained. But Juvia didn't even have to say anything for me to know that she didn't agree with me. "Look Sting, I promised I would look after Luna while Lucy's figuring things out. So she's staying here in Magnolia with me until she gets back. You can stay at the guild if you'd like." She suggested. But I furrowed my eyebrows with confusion, "I appreciate that, I really do. But I think it's time she comes home with me." I grinned. Though Juvia stood her ground as well and wrapped her arms around Luna, "Sting, please. I promised Lucy."

I shook my head and frowned, "I understand that. I'm trying to help Lucy as well but I think it'd be better if she came with me. Plus I haven't spent any time with her recently."

"And whose fault is that?" she muttered.

"Stop it .... please." Luna begged. Juvia sighed and patted her head, "I'm sorry. But you know your mom left me in charge of you until she gets back." I could tell by Lunas face that this conversation wasn't going to end how I wanted it to. Luna looked up at me and smiled, "Its okay dad. Once mom comes home I'll go with you. But for now I want to stay with Aunt Juvia until mom gets back." Even though that wasn't what I wanted to hear, I forced a smile anyways and nodded with understanding. After that we all headed back to the guild together in silence. Luna was skipping around in front of Juvia and I. "Any word about Lucy?" she asked.

"Nothing. I was planning on heading there tomorrow to check up on her."

Juvia glanced over her shoulder at me and bit her lip, "She's not going to .... be there forever right?" I looked back at her and gave a concerned look, I wasn't sure how to answer that. Everything is looking a bit rough right now and the Magic Council is trying to pin this on them just so they can close the missing persons case for good. But I knew I had to stay optimistic, "She will be fine. Natsu too. They're innocent until proven guilty."

"I hope you're right ..."

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this was the longest chapter i ever wrote in this book.