Morning. Lucy sat up and stretched her arms upward in the air.

"MMMMM! What a good morning!"

She rubbed her eyes and looked around her room. And no sign of pink of blue.. YES! Oh! what bliss it was to finally have a restful night without having to constantly worry. yes.. you wouldn't believe the stress that came with having to worry about Natsu "accidently" or not groping her or hugging her to death..

Of course he was a natural heater. It was nice but Lucy couldn't help but feel like he didn't know any boundaries. She loved his as a best friend and knew that Natsu was too dense to realize or have any emotions like... passionate love.. romance.. dates.. kisses. Just some things you don't do to a girl unless you are dating! Is that too hard to understand? Lucy did not by any means want to be an easy girl. No.. she will be a gem to be worked for.

Lucy laughed out loud as she got up from her bed and entered the bathroom to shower. All the while she thought...

Natsu was too dumb to realize that both she and Lisanna liked him. And of course Lisanna liked Natsu much more than Lucy did... at least that was what Lucy truly believed in. Lisanna was such a sweet girl and Natsu was a sweet friend. Frustrating but sweet. Lucy would have no hard feelings if they coupled up... even if it meant her losing her best friend and partner. But that didn't mean Lucy would give him up so easily either.

As she thought through what her relationship was with Natsu, Lucy sighed.. hopeless Natsu...

After getting dressed Lucy headed towards the guild. The sun warm on her skin and a slight cool breeze made her hair fly in the wind. She loved the breeze. It made her wish she could fly... or borrow Wendy's magic for a while. Either could work. She smiled happily as she finally entered the guild.

"Good morning!" Lucy entered with a smile.

"Good morning!" was said throughout the guild by various members.

"Oh Lucy!" Cana said behind the bar. She had a barrel of alcohol already in her hands.. Lucy sweatdropped. "You finally came! I was waiting for ya." Obviously Cana was already tipsy..

"Hi Cana.. I see you already started on your alcohol!" Lucy said as she sat on her bar stool. Something felt odd. Lucy looked around, scanning the guild for certain people. It looked so empty.

"Ah.. looking for a certain someone Lucy? Hmmm?" Cana said smiling with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh stop it Cana. Where is everyone? I don't see.." Lucy said looking back at Cana..

"your teams already gone out on a mission." Cana said taking another swig of beer.

"huh? Really?" Lucy said with wide eyes.

"Yea.. Natsu and Happy went with Lisanna on a week long mission."

Lucy froze... "What?"

"yea.. they left not that long ago. Sorry Lucy... Lisanna got him excited about a job request... she also said something about Igneel.. maybe they have a lead? Probably why he left in such a hurry."

"Oh... okay. Where's the others?"

"Gray went on a mission with Juvia."

"Oh really? Gray finally opened up to her huh?" Lucy said weakly smiling.

"yea I know right! Bout time. OH! All the s-class mages are out on S-class jobs right now. We are getting a lot of request after winning the GMG. Erza went solo... but guess what?" Cana said as she leaned over the bar counter in a whisper.

"Mira and Laxus went on a S-class mission together!" Cana said smiling.

"What!? Really?!" Lucy said sitting up straight.

"YEA! Well must have been a pretty dangerous mission if both of them had to go." Cana took another big gulp of her beer.

"Wow.. I need to tell Levy.. Where is she by the way?"

"Oh... she's out on a mission with her team and Gajeel and Lily."

"OMG no....! Really?!"

"I know right! Hahaha can't imagine the drama with that group. Jet and Droy jealous of Gajeel and him annoyed to death. Poor Levy. Hahaha"

"wow... I guess I could ask Wendy to go on a mission with me."

"Ah.... Wendy went to train with Porlyusica."

"Oh! Good for her! She'll definitely get stronger in her healing magic."

"Yup." Cana smiled

"So.. does that mean you're filling for Mira.. and that's why you're drinking all the bar's alcohol?" Lucy smirked.

"Yup you know me well" Cana winked at Lucy.

The two girls laughed out to their hearts content. Cana too drunk to realize that Lucy.. was forcing her smile and laugh a little too much.. but not to the extent that anyone around would notice...

Except a few shadows lurking alone on the second floor..

Lucy said goodbye to Cana and the rest of the guild members still sitting around.. she walked out of the guild doors with a wide smile but as she walked further and further away... her smile began to slowly fade until her face was expressionless.

She walked silently past the townspeople who recognized her.. who smiled and waved at her.. she in return gave a quick gentle smile back and returned to her emotionless expression..

Four shadows followed her along the streets. They were trailing her from atop of the rooftops of the buildings. They watched her every move, her face...

Arriving at her apartment, Lucy slowly walked up the stairs to her apartment door. She let out a breath of air that she didn't she was holding and stepped inside. She closed the door and stood waiting.. listening for a sound of her friends having barged into her home. Natsu and happy in her kitchen eating.. or Gray lounging on her sofa.. or Erza looking through her drawers for lingerie.

She desperately waited for something/someone to make a sound, but her home was.... Silent.

Walking over to her sofa, she plopped down on it. She was laying on her back with an arm over her eyes.

"Gray.. Erza.. Wendy... Natsu.... How could you all leave without telling me..." Lucy said whispering to herself.

My friends ditched me.

Tears ran down the side of her face. She remained silent. Her entire left arm began to ache and her left hand felt weak. She tried increasing her blood circulation in hopes to make the feeling pass by opening and closing her fist repeatedly.. but surprisingly she found it hard to make a tight fist.. her left hand felt so weak. While her right hand felt completely normal.. odd...

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

Lucy panicked. She didn't want to let anyone see her crying. She didn't want to let anyone know, how hurt she felt. It was her burden. She got up quickly and wiped away the tears. Taking a few deep breaths as she walked to her door, she wondered who was visiting her. Her left arm still ached and her left had was clenched in a weak trembling fist.

"I'll have to figure out what's wrong with me arm later.. but for now.. Lucy get yourself together!" Lucy thought to herself.

Mustering up courage to bring back happy Lucy.. fake or not.. she opened her door smiling. But what she saw brought her wide smile to fade.. her eyes wide with complete shock.

Four familiar men stood at her door. Lucy took a step back. And a pink haired man hesitantly took a step forward. She took another two steps back.

The pink haired man stepped into the apartment, followed by a raven haired man. A long black haired man stepped inside after and finally a blonde haired man filed in. He closed the door behind him and with aCLICK... the door was locked.

The blonde haired man turned around to face the girl. The four men facing her.. their eyes all on her.. the completely shocked Lucy..

She took their appearances in.. Gray taller and more built. Gajeel's black hair was still long but brushed! And clean! He had a cool bandana on his head. Laxus looked the same yet.. softer and more charismatic?! And Natsu... he was also taller.. more built.. toned.. handsome..

They all looked... more mature.. more... MANLY... and Lucy's heart.. was running a race.. they were MUCH MORE HANDSOME than the boys she knew.

"Who... who are you?" Lucy said as she still grabbed her left arm with her right. Her left fist was still clenched loosely and trembling.
"Luce... it's us." Natsu said smiling softly.

Lucy eyed him with confusion written all over her face.

"Lucy... it really is us." Gray softly smiled as well. Something in his eyes.. also in Natsu's..

Lucy looked towards Gajeel.. his eyes.. Laxus.. his eyes too... something about them...

"You guys can't be my Gray.. Gajeel.. Laxus.. Natsu... they're.."
"We aren't from this time period.. bunnygirl.. obviously we're from the future." Gajeel said crossing his arms.

"EEHHH!?... OUCH!" Lucy took a step back but tripped. She hit her head onto a wall.

Gray quickly ran over and held his hand over her bump. He gently used his magic to cool the aching spot. Lucy opened one of her squinting eyes..

"Owie...." Through her one eye.. she saw a very handsome mature Gray reaching over to her head with one hand and felt a cool hand caressing her cheek. It took a moment for her to realize that she was lying on the floor.. Gray kneeling by her side.. she could see his well defined muscles... he just had to be shirtless...

To make it worse... the three other men quickly came over and knelt by her as well. Worry in their eyes.
Surrounded by them.. Lucy felt like her head was spinning.. she was blushing mad.. embarrassed.. she quickly sat up and scooted back against the wall..

She thought to herself... "how in the world did they become so handsome?! Is this really them in the future?!"

"You're still clumsy." Gray said laughing.
"Little Bunny." Gajeel smirked while giving her a playful look.
"Blondie." Laxus said shaking his head while smiling softly.
"Weirdo." Natsu said as he ran a hand through his hair... he looked good doing it.

Lucy opened her mouth to speak... frustrated... that she was being bullied by even the future boys.... No not boys.. MEN.... She sighed and face palmed herself.

"Yea... you're them alright.." Lucy spoke muffled through her hand.
"Of course we are Luce." Natsu said smiling widely.

She brought her hand away from her face..

"How many years..?" Lucy asked as she looked at them.
"How many years what?" Gajeel asked.
"How many years into the future did you guys come from?"

"7 years from now." Laxus said staring into her eyes. Lucy stared back into his beautiful blue/gray eyes... and his words echoed through her mind...

...

...

...

"7 YEARS?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"