With a slash of your sword, magic energy shot through all of the Phantom guild members. They screamed, collapsing to the ground like flies. Your fellow guild members stared on in absolute shock. You turned.

"Return to the guild," you ordered, "We're done here. Not to mention the Master needs immediate medical attention." You were the one who walked first. The guild was now eerily quiet. No sounds of rowdy fighting or exclaims, or screams. Just the sound of your footsteps walking alone, out of the guild.

"So, did we catch this Lucy or whatever her name was?"
You stopped walking.

"It's sad. The girl named Lucy is being held at our headquarters."

"Giving her a warm reception, huh?"
Both you and Natsu had the same reaction.

"Gajeel!!!" The both of you shouted.

"Let's finish this another time, Salamander... Draconia!" Gajeel and Aria both disappeared from the rafters. Your lip curled into a feral snarl.

"I SAID RETREAT!!!"

~
When the guild members left Phantom, some of the enemies recovered from your attack, and chased after them. You disappeared from the front of the group and appeared behind an enemy member, grabbing him by the scruff of his shirt. Natsu was right behind you, his entire body lit on fire.

"Draconia!"

"You," you said, eyes dark. "We're gonna have a talk."

"O-okay! Alright!"

~
You and Natsu dragged him up into the rocky mountain, far away from the others.

"What now, Natsu, Y/n?" Happy asked.

"Isn't it obvious? We're going to save Lucy!" Natsu replied. The man who you were dragging struggled against your strong grip.

"Talk!" You barked out, "Where's Lucy?"

"H-how should I know?! Who's that?!"
Natsu placed his hand over yours and set him on fire. The poor guild member screeched and writhed at the controlled heat.

"Talk," Natsu ordered.

"I told you! I don't know! Seriously!"

"If any more of my friends get hurt... I might just turn you into ash!" Natsu glared at him, expression severe. You didn't even give him the courtesy of looking at him. The poor dude only yelled louder.

"I don't know! Really! I dunno who this chick--Lady--of yours is!"

"Oh, that's too bad, then," you said, "Guess I'll use you as fuel for my fireplace." Happy and Natsu both agreed with you.

"But our headquarters are up ahead. Perhaps she's there?"
You smirked.

"You should've said so sooner," you said.

"Aye!"

~
Their headquarters looked more like a castle than anything else. Of course. You disposed of the poor man by throwing him off the edge of the mountain. You looked around the outside.

"Should we bust on in?" You asked Natsu. He smirked widely.

"I have no complaints to that!"
You looked around the headquarters for a door, when you heard it.

"Y/N!!!!!!!"
Your mom friend instincts kicked in and you zoomed to the side of the HQ where you heard the scream come from. Down below the side of a tower, Lucy was falling. You stood below her and held out your arms. Her weight slammed down onto you, but you kept standing. You looked down at her and smiled.

"Sup."

"Y/n, I knew you'd be here," Lucy said quietly.

"Lucy!" Both Natsu and Happy called out. They ran up to you. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Lucy nodded. "I'm okay."
You set her down and ripped the rope apart with ease.

"They didn't do anything, did they?" You asked. She shook her head in reply.

"No. I was unconscious for most of it." She rubbed her wrist.

"What a relief. We should head back to the guild, too," Happy said.

"HAH? This is their headquarters. In which case--"

"But Y/n said to retreat," Happy argued.

"She's a wimp then, I'm not scared of these guys one bit! ... oh..."

"Wimp?" You stood up, turning to face him, eyes dark. "You think I'm a wimp for thinking about the wellbeing of the guild?" You towered over him and he began to sweat.

"N-no ma'am!"

"Really? Because it sure as hell seems like you are."

"I'M SORRY PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"

"I'm sorry..."
You calmed down enough to look behind yourself at Lucy. With furrowed brows, you noticed something was off with her.

"I'm so sorry..." She clenched her skirt between her hands. That's when you noticed she began to cry quietly. "It's... it's all my fault... Even so, I still want to be in the guild." She turned to look at you three.

"I love Fairy Tail!"

"What the hell do you mean?" You asked. Things grew awkward for you when she actually began to cry loudly. You looked at Natsu in a 'what in the fucking hell is going on' way.

"Natsu, Y/n, let's go back," Happy said.

"Y-yeah... I guess we ought to," Natsu replied.

"I said that first." Your lip twitched into a snarl. You walked over to Lucy and placed a soft hand on her shoulder. "Come on. Let's get up. I'll carry you on my back." Lucy only proceeded to cry harder.

"Look, you made her cry!" Happy said. You glared at the cat.

"I'll make you cry as well."

"I'M SORRY!"
As the three of you were jogging away from the headquarters, you felt a spike of powerful magic. Jose is probably pissed. You looked back at the headquarters, making sure no one was following you.

~
Back in the basement of the guild, all of the members were whining and groaning about the retreat. You overlooked the entire thing, arms crossed, and expression lax. You spotted your main bitches in the corner of the basement. You walked up to them in the middle of their conversation.

"It's just... I'm sorry," you heard Lucy say. After her explaining to you guys why she in particular was kidnapped, she seemed extremely crestfallen.

"You shouldn't apologize for your father's actions," you said to her. The lot of them looked up at you. "If you want, I can get rid of him for you."

"Y/n, be a little more sensitive," Gray softly scolded. You glanced at him.

"Lucy's father has caused us more trouble than he's worth. Is he really that important?"

"But it came as a shock to me," Happy said. "Why did you hide the truth, Lucy?"

"It wasn't that I was hiding it. I was a runaway, so I just never really wanted to talk about it," Lucy explained, "He didn't give a care about his daughter being gone for a year, but then suddenly he wants to drag me back. Papa did all this to bring me back."

"Ugh," you groaned, rolling your eyes. "A civil conversation would've sufficed."

"You're really not good at this whole 'sensitive' thing, are you?" Gray sweatdropped.

"Still, it was my running away that caused all of this," Lucy added on.

"That ain't right. Your dad's the one to blame," Elfman said.

"You idiot," Gray said.

"Oh--! I mean Phantom is!"
You sighed exasperatedly.

"I never thought my selfish actions would cause you all so much trouble. I'm really sorry. This all would end if I went home, wouldn't it?"

"You can't think for everyone," you said, "No matter how hard you try, people will get hurt. You would've never have known it would come down to this."

"You said you want to stay here, right?" Natsu asked, "Why would you go back to somewhere you don't want to?"
You smirked, coming up next to her. You slapped her on the back of the head.

"Ow!"

"You're Lucy of Fairy Tail," you declared proudly. "You're right where you belong." She looked up at you at started to tear up. You deadpanned.

"Please don't start crying again."
She hiccupped.

"Oh dear lord."

Ja ne!

{Ruby Red}