~*****~

About a week after defeating the Phantom Guild, we began rebuilding the guild. Of course, we had to do questioning and interrogations about what happened during the entire thing, but it went smoothly, considering that the Phantom Lords were at fault. Thanks, random citizens for giving eyewitness reports!

"That's what you get for carrying to much, ya moron," I hear Gray comment as I lift up more pillars.

"WHAT'D YOU CALL ME?!" I hear Natsu bellow. I peer over the stacks of boxes and beam before leaping over and tackling both of them. "ARIA?! QUIT IT!"

"YEAH, CUT IT OUT, WE'RE TRYING TO WORK!" Gray shouts.

"QUIT MESSIN' AROUND, YOU IDIOTS, EVERYONE'S TRYING TO WORK!" I laugh.

I give a sharp grunt as something hits us hard on the heads and slams us on the ground. "Cut it out! Get back to work!" Erza shouts up at us. "NOW! We've got a lot to do, so no more lollygagging!"

"C'mon, Erza, that hurts!" I complain up at her as I rub at the lump swelling on my head.

"You want another one?" She says in a deathly calm tone.

"Bring it on, you still haven't fought me yet, and I've been eating ice like crazy just to get back into the swing of it!" I mention, my fist raising.

"I think Aria may have gotten hit a little to hard during that fight," I hear Wakaba mention. "She's been gung-ho on training lately."

"She's not gung-ho, she's training like you two should be!" Erza defends me. She grasps my hand and helps me up before handing me a beam to carry along with her. "Come, we'll work and train later!"

I beam and follow after her.

"Aw, man, I'm starving." Natsu groans after hours of work.

"Yeah, when's lunch." Gray hums.

I feel a refreshing wave of water splash over me and I sigh happily. "Man, that hit the spot." I comment as I swipe water off of my belly.

"That's a lunch box!" Happy exclaims.

Gray blinks and stares down at it. "Where'd it come from?" Gray asks as I sit besides him and peer in excitedly.

"Oh, wow, that looks pretty tasty!" Natsu exclaims. I snort and take the top one off.

"Whoa, that's awesome! Your face is totally edible!" Happy cheers.

"Yeah, no kidding," I tease.

"I can't eat this!" Gray complains. "It's just too weird, and something's oozing out of the sides..."

"I'll eat it for you!" Natsu chimes.

"Don't blame me if you get sick." Gray comments irritably.

I hum delicately and lift up a clump of rice with Gray's face on it before popping it in my mouth. "Man, you sure are delicious, Gray!" I comment in a teasing manner. I beam even wider as Gray's face flushes in an incredibly dark red color.

"Would you quit it with that! Someone could get the wrong idea, you know!" Gray complains.

I shrug. "So what? I told you, I tend to get mega flirty with guys I like, and Mira let me in on just how cool you were during that fight a week ago!" I chirp teasingly.

"WHO SAID YOU COULD TAKE A LUNCH BREAK? Hey--" Erza stops seething as she notices the lunch kit I'm picking out of. "That supposed to be your face made out of veggies?"

"Sure is!" I laugh. "It's pretty good, too!"

Erza hums. "This is good! I could eat the whole thing!"

"Guess I should try it," Gray shrugs. I hand him the chopsticks I'd been using. Just before he can eat it, we hear a voice.

"Hey can you guys do me a favor?" I glance over at Loke, who's holding Lucy's keys. "When I was in town, I found Lucy's gate keys. Could you give them back to her?"

"Oh, hey, man," Gray greets. "We were wondering where you'd run off to."

"You were looking for her keys this whole time?" I ask in amazement, my hands clutching around the holder tightly.

"Are you okay?" Ballad asks as she perches on his head, peering down at him. "You're pale today."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Loke sighs. "Just a little beat. You know, being a gentleman is pretty draining."

"We haven't seen Lucy around lately," Happy sighs. "She's probably still too sore to help out."

"We should go and check on her." I comment. "Why don't you come with us, Loke." I offer politely.

Loke sighs. "No thanks, I'll pass. You know I'm no good around Celestial Wizards."

"Aw, come on! This is Lucy we're talking about!" Natsu complains.

"Natsu," Erza hums. "Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. Just leave him alone."

~*****~

"LUCY!" Happy cheers as he gets through the window.

"HOW ARE YOU FEELING?!" Natsu barks, following after him.

"Jeez, don't come in through the window," Gray complains from the fireplace.

"Says you," I laugh. "Sheesh, there are doors, you know."

"Since when are you miss manners?" Natsu, Happy, and Gray complain.

I peer around, ignoring their comment. "What's the deal?" Natsu complains.

"Normally, she'd be all--" Gray starts.

"GET OUTTA HERE!" Happy and Ballad impersonate Lucy to a T.

"I wonder where she could have gone..." Erza hums.

"In the bath?" Gray wonders. "I'm askin' for it, but it's gotta be done--"

"Not here," I mention as I lean against the tub, a towel hanging around my frame.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Gray shouts as Natsu pops up from the water and leans against the side.

"It seems as though she's not home," Erza comments while in a towel of her own.

"Way to state the obvious, genius," Gray mentions.

We reconvene in her room, gazing around curiously. "It's just not the same without Lucy." Erza hums irritably.

"Nobody can yell like she can..." Happy hums sadly.

"My impression of her wasn't that bad, it's not like yours was any better." Gray states.

"Lucy?" Happy calls as he pulls open a drawer.

"Is she in there?" Natsu asks and flinches.

"There's no way she could fit in a--" Gray stops and flushes.

"Where do you buy underwear like this?" Happy wonders aloud.

"That's underwear?!" Gray exclaims.

"I've never seen anything like it!" Erza mentions. "Where would you even wear that?!"

"Family gatherings?" Natsu muttered.

I began to laugh. "No silly, with men! Or women, or whatever floats Lucy's boat!" I say happily.

"Why would she wear it with men or women?" Natsu asks, head tilted.

A wide grin split over my face. "Unlike you group of virgins, I'm sure Lucy has her taste in other people. I tend to go for stronger wizards, like myself." I comment.

"Oh, like a fight?" Natsu asks excitedly.

Gray immediately flushes dark red. "Nope." I say confidently. "In--" I lean to Natsu and whisper in his ear what I mean.

"YOU DO THAT?!" Natsu cries, face flushed a dark crimson color as I pull back and giggle.

"You're gonna give people the wrong idea!" Gray exclaims as I continue to laugh.

"It's not the wrong idea if I enjoy it, Gray," I mention impishly.

"Would you close that?!" Gray snapped at Happy.

"But I wanna know how you put it on!" Happy cries.

They begin to struggle before they knock over one of Lucy's boxes. Letter upon letters spill out from inside and I gape at them all. "So many letters," Erza hums.

"And they're still sealed." I hum as I kneel down and lift one up.

"Dear Mom, today was a very special day because I joined the Fairy Tail Guild." Natsu read aloud.

"Hey, man, don't go reading her stuff!" Gray complained.

"I met the most beautiful wizard named Erza who's actually really nice and cool. She's always yelling at Natsu and Gray." Natsu continues.

"Are all these letters addressed to her mom?" Gray wonders as I shuffle through the other letters.

"Seems like it," I say.

"How come she never mailed 'em?" Natsu asked.

"I found a note," I hear Erza hums. We turn to her curiously. "Evidently Lucy left it for us. It says she's going home."

"WHAT!?" We all bellow. "NO WAY!"

~*****~

We find Lucy in her hometown, visiting an old grave. We all shout for her name wildly as we run to get to her. She flinches, whirls around and gazes at all of us in shock.

"You're here?!" Lucy exclaims wildly.

Happy and Ballad fly straight into her arms, sobbing wildly and calling her name. We all complain loudly at her for leaving, but she just explains everything happily before she introduces us to the people who work at her home before we leave.

"I'm sorry, guys, I didn't mean to freak you out," Lucy giggles.

"There's no need to apologize, we shouldn't have jumped to conclusions." Erza says.

"Yeah, we thought you were goin' back for good!" Gray huffs.

"Happy, Aria, and Ballad here were cryin' like babies!" Natsu mentioned.

"YOU WERE CRYING, TOO!" I shout at him.

Natsu scoffed. "No, I did not!"

"Aw, is someone embarrassed all of a sudden~" I tease. Lucy just laughs as Natsu flushes even darker.

"I gotta tell ya, I'm kinda diggin' your hometown." Gray comments.

"Me too, it's such a peaceful place," Erza nods.

"Oh, it's not a town. This is just part of of our gardens." Lucy explains. I hum in amazement. "The Heartfilia estate goes all the way up to that mountain over there." Gray and Natsu pale. "What's the matter you guys?"

"Holy crap, she's rich!" Gray shouts.

"AND ACTS LIKE IT'S NOTHIN'!" Natsu shouts.

"Two of our best soldiers are down!" Happy shouts to Erza, who's also pale. "Captain Erza, what are your orders?!"

"Wow, the sky is so beautiful." Erza simply says.

"We need a medic!" Happy shouts.

"What's the big deal?" I laugh. "That's not a lot of jewel to own that much land."

Lucy hums happily. "Do you own land?" She asks curiously.

"Yeah, you know that really big mountain in the Northern Continent? The one where that really old city sits that houses that famous guild with the super hot guild featured in last weeks Sorcerer Weekly?" I ask curiously. She nods. "I own that entire mountain. Plus a couple of different properties than I use on occasion."

Gray, Natsu, and Erza choke violently before sinking to their knees. "Rich girls..." They all murmur.

~*****~

"Listen up, everyone! Starting today, we're taking on job requests! You'll have to excuse the mess while we're under construction, but at least you can get back to work!" Mira exclaims a few days later. Lucy sits at the bar with me, smiling fondly up at Mira. Thankfully, she's back in good spirits after that talk with her dad.

"What's up with them?" Lucy giggles. "Most of the time, these guys would be loafing around the guild hall all day."

Mira giggles. "They're all stir crazy, I suppose," I mention.

"I don't suppose you've seen Loke, have you?" Lucy asks.

"Oh, don't tell me you've fallen head over heels for Fairy Tail's resident playboy!" Mira chirps to her.

"It's not like that!" Lucy exclaims wildly. "It's just that apparently, he was the one who found my keys! I just wanted to tell him thanks for his help."

"Sure, I'll let him know if I see him," Mira smiles. "Well, it wouldn't have been weird if you were in love with him, seeing as how Aria's harboring quite the crush on--"

"I have training to do!" I comment loudly and leap off my stool, ignoring Mira's teasing laugh to come back. "See you girls later!" I chant over my shoulder.

"What're you runnin' for?!" Natsu shouts, leaping over the tables I'd passed to tackle me. "WE'RE GONNA HAVE A FIGHT RIGHT HERE!"

"Back off you, Pyro!" I shout at him all the while laughing.

Everyone begins to laugh as frost and flames begin spit out everywhere. We stop immediately when we hear Erza shout angrily. "Why don't you tell everyone how you really feel!" She snaps in a deadly tone.

I exchange a curious glance with Natsu before we hurry towards them. "I have no problems telling 'em what I think of 'em." Laxus huffs haughtily. "This guild's full of nothing but losers and weaklings! Especially the two of you," He throws over his shoulder at Jet and Droy. "You were Phantom's personal punching bags. You know how glad I am that I never bothered to learn your names. Which brings me to the worst of them all, the rich little princess wannabe wizard. This is your fault!"

"Laxus!" Mira shouts. "Would you shut up! The master said no one in the guild was to be held accountable for what happened, not even you, despite the fact that I begged you to come help and you turned your back on us!"

"Stop your whining!" Laxus barks. "That fight had nothing to do with me. But if I had been there, you wouldn't be drowning your sorrows in this pile of rubble right now!"

I sneered at him. "You're a gutless coward, that's what you are!" I snap at him. "You'd rather sit in your little throne all day long than proving just how tough you are to be making those claims!"

Laxus just sneers right. "Then bring it on, little girl, show me what you've got! You can't even touch me! Man, I can't wait to inherit this place and kick all you weaklings to the curb! Your days in Fairy Tail are numbered, kids! Things are gonna be a whole lot different around here, so I guess you losers will have to find a new place to hang out." He gives a great laugh before disappearing with a flurry of his magic.

Lucy grunts irritably. "What a jerk. Why would anyone ever let him take over?"

Mira sighs. "We may not have a choice. Laxus could inherit the guild because he's the master's Grandson. Whether we like it or not, he's at the top of the short list of people who could assume command, if the master were to retire."

I grunt irritably and scrub at my head a bit. "Well, that's just dandy." I mention. "I'm gonna go train some more. Lucy, if you wanna do a job, I'll be out in the forest." I jut my thumb towards the tall trees in the distance.

Lucy chuckles nervously as she nods. "I'll try to get your attention from afar, I'm not getting in the middle of that."

I beam at her and walk off, my fingers pointed out in a salute before I shove my hands in my pockets.

~*****~

Strangely enough, Lucy did indeed find me with a new job that she and the others decided to go on. "Oh, I get to go?" I chirp excitedly.

Natsu grunted irritably. "Of course you are! You think the teams gonna go on a mission without you?"

Gray laughed. "Yeah, we're Fairy Tail's Strongest Team, we got to stick together."

I snort and wipe a towel over my drenched hair. "If you're sure you want me to stick around. Don't worry about me, I'll get back into tip top shape soon enough."

Natsu grunted again, his arms crossing over his chest. "What? You're plenty strong! Stop saying you're out of practice, I probably wouldn't have defeated Gajeel if you hadn't wore him down." Natsu complained.

I rub at my head. "No, it's true. Ever since I joined Fairy Tail, I haven't been putting my all into my training. I've gotten lazy." I chuckle as Ballad floats down to my shoulder and nudges my head with hers, beaming brilliantly as I pat at her. "Now I got a reason to fight with my all." I explain lightly. "You guys, and this little one."

Ballad smiles brighter and lifts off my shoulder. "Then I say we hit the road! It's high time we did something other than train!" Ballad chirped.

Lucy laughed. "Go wash up, stinky, I'll meet you at your house, but make sure to bring an overnight bag, just in case!"

I wave my hand at her. "Yeah, yeah, I'll remember not to forget my blanket this time." I mention with a laugh.

The job, however, went horribly. Natsu, Gray, Erza and I ended up trashing the place much more than the cult did. I didn't mind forking over my part of the reward to pay for it, but Lucy was under the weather about it.

It wasn't long until we were on our next job-- we went back to Onibas, and it felt kind of surreal. "Wow, Onibas!" Lucy chirped. "We haven't been here since that whole Lullaby thing!"

"Hey, Natsu! Aria! We're here!" Happy cheered.

"Don't make us move," I whine unhappily.

"I think they died," Ballad commented with a laugh.

"So, let me make sure I got this right. Our job is simply using our magic to draw a crowd to some rundown theater?" Gray asked as Ballad dragged me along on the ground.

I begin grumbling angrily as I stumble to my feet and trudge behind the cart with Natsu. "Yep! Natsu'll impress the crowd with his fire breathing, you and Aria will make amazing ice sculptures, and Erza will requip into different armor!" Lucy explained. "Then I'll have Lyra sing a song that'll melt their hearts! People are gonna come from miles around! If I ever finish my novel, I'm sure it would make a great play. Yes! This is gonna be my big chance to learn all I can about the stage!"

"I can tell ya it's not as cracked up as it seems," I mention dryly. Lucy shoots me an extremely interested look before Gray hums.

"Whoa," He says, drawing our attention. We all coo in amazement at the large theater.

"Pretty classy, huh?" Happy comments.

"Let's go!" Lucy says excitedly.

"Excuse me--" I glance over and gaze at the men peering around one of the pillars. He kinda reminds me of a snail. "I don't suppose you're the wizards from Fairy Tail, are you?" He asks.

"Yep!" Lucy nods.

"Oh, thank you for accepting the job, I can't tell you how grateful I am!" The snail man exclaims.

"Well, we'll make sure you have a packed house!" Lucy chirps.

The man's face falls a bit. "Actually, about that..." He trails off. "Unfortunately, I'm in a bit of a pickle right now."

~*****~

"What?! All of your actors just walked out on you?!" Lucy exclaimed in shock once the snail man explained his dilemma.

"Yes... Thank you so very much!" The snail man says nervously.

"Thanks for what?" Ballad asks suspiciously.

"My last few shows have been complete and utter failures. The reviews have gotten so bad, the actors are embarrassed to perform another one of my productions!" I glance at Ballad cautiously before turning my gaze back onto the production manager. "So they left, just like my wife." Ballad and I quickly slap our mouths shut in an attempt to stop the snort. "But I won't give up on my dreams! The theater's in my blood! But this was my last chance to shine! Now I can never redeem myself!"

"Man, I thought actors were the dramatic ones..." Gray murmured.

"I had no choice! The performance has been canceled! Thank you so very much!" The production snail cried.

"You know what they say," Erza says suddenly. "The show must go on."

I flinch sideways as I glance at her. "Say what now?" I chirp anxiously.

"Have no fear! We shall perform in your play!" Erza declares.

"Hey, is she glowing?!" Gray exclaims.

She begins to vocalize. "She sure seems fired up about this. Maybe Erza secretly wishes for the stage life." I mention.

"That's a strange warm up you got there." Ballad comments.

"Now that I think about it, this sounds like it could a lot of fun!" Lucy chirped.

"You wanna do it?" Natsu grumbled.

"Aye!" Happy chirped.

"Well, that settles it, then! We're not gonna let your dream die, sir!" Gray states.

The man sheds a single tear before grunting. "Well, I guess I've got nothing to lose." He groans after a moment. "What amateurs."

"Amateurs is right. I was only a clown in a traveling circus three times." I laugh as I lean back against my palms.

Gray sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose.