Lucy

I opened my eyes just as a bigger body crashed into mines midair. Giant arms wrapped themselves around my stomach, securing me tightly against his bigger body. Oh and we were both flying, literally horizontally. The flash of the familiar soft pink hair was almost too much a relief for me. But we're still flying, yep. Not normal at all.

It wasn't long until I felt my back collide with something soft, a mattress maybe, and the crazy insane bird flying stopped. I slid off the mattress tummy first onto another mattress on laid out on the sidewalk. Someone set this up.

"I made it just in time," Natsu's muffled voice came from under my chest. I blushed when I noticed they were flushed up against his exhausted face.

"Thank you, Natsu," I said softly, sitting up to let the poor hero breath.

The pounding of running feet came closer and I looked up. Erza, Gray, Mira and Elfman were making their way over to us, panting and shouting, "LUCY!"

A crowd of curious bystanders were horrified with just happened but nobody said a word as my teammates rushed passed them. Well, the scene is beyond bizarre. I'm handcuffed and just jumped off of the sixth floor and some kid did just catch me perfectly. If he were a second later, my head would be kissing the sidewalk instead of his broad chest.

"You guys," I sighed.

Mira kneeled down in front of me, "Are you alright, Lucy?"

"Yeah," my voice cracked. "I'm fine."

Suddenly, I was off the ground again. Not flying this time but in somebody's arms. Natsu's to be precise.

"We'd love to sit and chat but we gotta run," Natsu said, throwing me like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder. "We have a game."

"Wait, Natsu!" I shouted but he didn't hear me.

I looked at our landing sight. Two king sized mattresses were standing at a 90 degree angle; one standing upwards the other one on the floor. The one standing was leaning against a giant storage truck so it didn't tip over. The one at the bottom was set to cushion our landing.

So, Fairy Tail planned this out?

Two cars, one being Erza's the other a Toyota Camry, rolled up at the side of the streets
each with drivers. The one driving the Tesla was Jellal, the other a familiar orange head that runs away from me whenever I say hello.

Natsu jumped into the Camry with me, along with Mira. Erza, Elfman and Gray jumped into the Tesla. Jellal sped away back towards North where the field was located.

Since my hero was stuck in motion sickness, it was Mira who freed my arms. I flexed my fingers a few times, getting feeling back through them to make sure they haven't completely numbed off. I looked at Mira who pulled out a first aid kit and opened the portable body containing hydrogen peroxide. I caught Loke glance at me through the rear view mirror once but the eyes behind his sunglasses darted forward immediately.

"You have a cut on your cheek," Mira pointed with a warm smile. "I'll take care of it."

As Mira worked on my cut, my mind wandered to what Jose said about my father. Wait a minute, than why did that man go after Levy, Droy and Jet anyway? Was it because... of me? The only reason why they'd do what they did was because of me...

I've endangered my friends by just being here. I've endangered everybody, because they don't know what or who I am. They don't know so I couldn't protect him. The folk of Fairy Tail from the manager to the newest ones in the youth academy, they're all innocent and if I continued staying; their lives would continuously be put in danger. I need to leave, now. Otherwise, somebody else I care about would get hurt. I can't let that happen, especially since I can prevent that.

"I know that look, Lucy," our driver suddenly spoke.

I turned to him as he continued, "You're planning on running away because of this?"

"I wasn't -"

"It's alright Lucy," Mira said, opening the band-aid. "We knew you were targeted. It was just Phantom being afraid that our newest player being a huge threat in the penalty area is all. They did all of this because they're cowards. They know the can't win without if all the starters played plus the Celestial Striker so they had to pick some of us off."

My eyes widened. What did she just say?

"Mira..." I started, my voice cracking. "H-how did you...? When did you...?"

She smiled brightly at me, "You're the spitting image of the Celestial Striker. I'm surprised nobody noticed before until now."

"E-everybody knows?" I asked.

She shook her head, "Just me, Coach, and Loke, for some reason."

I relaxed a little. Natsu doesn't even know yet which is good, in a way. No, it's wrong, it's completely and utterly wrong. Him of all people deserve to know.

Who I truly am...

"What I don't get is," Mira continued. "You're supposed to be at least about forty something years old or maybe even dead. The last time the Celestial Striker played, she was thirty-two and she hung her boots before completely disappearing off the face of the Earth. There are rumors she rebelled against her parents and married a man whom her parents disapproved off. Other rumors revolved around her being pregnant so she had to stop playing to watch her kid. Then six years later, a little girl that looks exactly like her, had the same exact shooting style; the same exact golden hair."

My teeth gritted, "The Celestial Striker was my mother. She happily married my father with my grandparents' consent because they died when she was little."

Our manager did not expect that. She dropped the the bandaid wrapper onto the floor of the car.

"Wait," Mira's blue eyes shone with confusion. "Than who really is the Celestial Striker."

I looked her dead in the eyes, "I am. I stole the title from my mother when she died. I was just never strong enough to step into the field with it."

"You should be, now," Natsu's sick voice spoke beside me. I looked at the winger, he gave me a wink and giant smile. "You're mother was a proud player of Fairy Tail FC. She pounded her chest and would shout proudly that she's a Fairy and that her children will always be fairies for generations. Her last and final goal during her final game against Phantom Lord was dedicated to you. It was a goal that named Fairy Tail the strongest FC in Fiore. She scored the goal, so you can continue on scoring for her family, your family now as well."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Loke stopped by my apartment so I could grab my uniform and clothes. I ran inside as quickly as I could; grabbing the duffel bag with my first name in it. I jumped into Loke's car again as he drove the short drive to the stadium.

The streets were packed, cars roaming looking for a parking spot for the event. Lights and music played everywhere as people of all ages in all different size groups made their way towards the ticket booth to be checked in. Loke dropped, Mira, Natsu and I off at the player entrance. Mira told me to run inside and changed, I only had thirty minutes to also get warm-ups and stretching in. She'd take care of the already dressed Natsu.

The locker room was empty, not a single sign of any player anywhere. As quickly as I could I took out the white uniform with red and orange shoulder designs, a number seven in red plaster in red on the back. My first name, 'Lucy', written across the back.

"Lucy," the soft raspy voice of the Coach made me turn towards the door. In he strolled in a suit that fitted his small body perfectly.

"Coach," I could feel the tears I've been holding back the whole car ride starting to fill my vision. Makarov also coached my mother through thick and thin, he helped her so much... even accepting me onto the team without a second thought. "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry."

"Lucy" he said, the giant mustache that covered most his face quivered. "Though we might not be able to share our feelings of happiness and sadness entirely, we do share them to some extent. That's what happens in a team. One person's happiness becomes everyone's happiness. One person's anger becomes everybody's anger. And one person's tears becomes everyone's tears. There's no reason for you to feel guilty. So don't cry. You should already know how everybody here cares about you."

I bit back the tears at the wise old man's words. He's right, I'm part of a team now. No, I'm part of a family, a family that actually cares about my well-being, my feelings. I don't need to cry, because I know my feelings have been heard among all the Fairy Tail FC players.

And I know, they are all very happy to have me.

"Here is something," Coach continued, pulling out two jerseys from behind his back. "When I called in to order your uniform, I asked them to make two sets for when you are ready. Here."

I accepted the two jerseys quietly. Opening it, the front was normal enough. The back, however, was different.

'Heartfilia' written across it in beautiful perfect red letters underneath the big red seven. My last name.

"You even have your mother's cleats as well," Makarov smiled warmly at me. "This way she will always be with you."

I hugged the jersey tightly to my body. A warm hand engulfed my shoulder, half expecting it to be my coach, no, the touch is too gentle. The only person who ever touched my shoulder like this, before every game to give me the courage I needed in the penalty box to score. Now, I need the touch to give me the courage and the speed so I can catch Natsu's passes.

Thank you so much, Mom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The lights that lit up the field was almost blinding as I walked through the doors and tunnel leading out onto the field. My eyes didn't squint as I looked upon the field, my teammates warming up by passing the ball one-touch.

"Stretch what you need, Lucy," Makarov patted my tail bone, thanks to his height. "Then grab Elfman and start practicing your shots."

I nodded at my Coach as he wandered off elsewhere. With a deep breath, my mother's cleats on my feet kissed the soft evenly cut grass of Fairy Tail's field for the first time in 17 years.

"IT'S LUCY!!!" Natsu's shout surprised me a bit. I looked up but I did not expect the giant stampede of Fairy Tail Soccer players in their warm-ups tackling me in one massive bear hug. I laughed along with them, each trying to fit themselves into the hug blob. The crowd that had already settled in for the game clapped and cheered just for the heck of it.

The one people who were actually hugging me and not the back of some random player on our team was Erza, Gray and Natsu. Natsu snuggled his chin into the right crook of my neck, Gray took the other. Our captain just hugged all three of her bodies against her own.

It was warm having all these support so I don't fall down on my own. My sadness is their sadness, their happiness is mines. We're one same person, connected through our care for one another.

That's what Fairy Tail is all about.

One by one, my teammates started leaving the hug and headed back to their warm-ups. The wingmen and our captain where the only ones left with me as we took up the tail of our teammates' path. I stole a glance to the other side, our opponents, Phantom Lord. Some of the players watched us through narrow eyes but five players smirked at us.

One was the wackjob lady from the cuckoo hut, beside her a scrawny green headed guy that was barely able to stand straight. Next to them, a bigger player with long hair covering his eyes and finally a dude with two shades of hair black and white, in a pony tail. A guy, big in size but not as big as the guy with long hair, crossed his arms. He had piercing up and down his arm as well as some through his nose. On his right arm, the red and black captain armband, showing that this is his squad to lead. His smirk deepened arms crossed, his red eyes glinted with something that made me shiver.

Gajeel Redfox... the person responsible for Levy's, Droy's and Jet's countless injuries.

"Erza, can I see your ball?" I asked the scarlet.

She tossed me the ball to me. I moved back and caught the ball once, juggling it twice more back and forth before one final kick upwards, I volleyed it, using the twist of my body as its main power of force, the ball shot between the heads of the captain and cuckoo hut lady in one swift, movement. The soccer ball continued shooting until it collided with the back of the net on their side. The other Phantom Lord players looked at one another, worry etched in every inch of their face. The crowd had gone quiet as well, watching the scene with anticipation.

Cuckoo hut lady was scared as well. I could her navy eyes widened at the sudden shot, so close to her head. If it were a little harder and steered at her face, she would've gotten a pretty bad concussion.

The captain, unlike the rest of his team, his smirked widened.

"Ghe he," the captain chuckled. "This is going to be fun."