Leaving The Past Behind

Chapter 10: The Fairies

Lucy P.O.V

Soon enough after packing and paying our 3 months of rent in advance, we head off to the train station where the rest of team sabertooth is waiting. Minerva seems to be pretty upset about our lack of punctuality, but soon gets over it as Sting buys the train tickets for the three of us. I look over towards Rogue and I can see some distance in his eyes.
"Rogue?" I start which makes him turn his attention to me.
"Is something bothering you?" I continue
"Ah...no, Lucy" He gives me a warm smile before going back to his usual emotionless face.
"Don't try to fool me, I know when something's bothering you." I say which makes him sigh in defeat.
"Just thinking about Fairy Tail, you're going to see them for the first time in months. I'm not prepared to say goodbye if you suddenly decide you want to go back..." He replies with a small frown.
"No matter how much they beg, plea, and pester me, I am not going back to a guild where I don't feel at home." I say before kissing his cheek.
"Thank you, Lucy" He says just as the train pulls up to the station. As soon as the train doors open we all pile into separate booths, Minerva and Rufus in one, Orga and Sting in another, and finally Rogue and I in the last since we all wanted to get some rest before we get to the beach where we will be training along side the fairies. The train ride will take about 10 hours so I decided to give Sting and Rogue each 2 motion sickness pills, one for every 5 hours and I have my own to take. We all take one now and Minerva promised to inform us when we should take another. Rogue and I sat along side each other in the booth and waited about 10 minutes for the train to start moving. It was pretty silent at first but then Rogue suddenly looks over at me.
"Lucy?"
"Yeah, Rogue?"
"Are you scared about mating season?" His question shocks me a little since I didn't give any thought to the fact that I am also a dragon slayer, meaning I am of age to mate as well.
"Well, how do we mate?" I ask dumbly
"Uh, well...Our hearts will guide us to the one and we will have to um..." His face goes completely red as he attempts to explain it.
"H-have sex?" I ask hoping that isn't it, but of course I was wrong and he nods slowly.
"During um..intercourse, we will bite the neck of our loved one at that bite has a bonding magic that ties our lives to the one that is truly for us. For example, if you and I were to mate and I was in trouble, you would feel it and your heart would guide you to my position to help me. Not only that, but also the moment I would take my last breath you would as well so that we'd never have to live a day without each other." He explains.
"Well what else happens?"
"When the two are together in battle their power rises above normal levels, so if I were in a battle and you were nearby, I would be 5x stronger than I am without you. Kinda like the power of emotions in Fairy Tail."
"Well I guess I am a little scared...." I say looking down at my hands.
"Me too, that is why I haven't asked you to be my girlfriend yet. I don't want to be hurt if you choose Sting or someone else. I already know who my mate is because I have loved her from the first time I've laid my eyes upon her beautiful face." He says looking up into my brown orbs and within his voice was nothing but sincerity, he was serious and it made my heart beat a little quicker.
"We'll see in a few weeks I guess.." I whisper before laying in his lap and looking up at him. Soon enough I doze off and I have a feeling that he did too.

*10 HOURS LATER*

Rogue P.O.V
I wake up just as the announcement for our stop is shouted over the intercom and I shake Lucy awake.
"Lucy, wake up. We slept through the whole trip..." I say as Lucy starts to sit up while yawning and rubbing her eyes.
"Here already? But we didn't take our second pill.." She says confused.
"I guess Minerva forgot to remind us..." I say shrugging it off and standing up.
"Well I don't feel sick so I guess it's fine.." She says while attempting to grab her bags before failing because I grab them first. She gives me a slightly annoyed expression before just walking off the train with the team trailing behind. 

After about 12 minutes of walking away from the train station, we arrive at the beach where we can already see the fairies training away from one another. Their team consisted of Natsu, Wendy, Erza, Gray, and Mira Jane. The fact that Mira Jane was there seemed to surprise Lucy because her mouth was hanging wide open.
"Lucy, is something wrong?" I ask her with a hint of concern on my face.
"N-no, I just figured Lissanna would be in my place not Mira. Mira almost never leaves the guild and when she last participated she was on team B."
"Well this year they made a rule about 2 teams.." I reassure her
"Even so I wouldn't expect Mira to be here" She says as we walk closer to the training grounds.

Natsu P.O.V
'Happy and I were working on some new moves when I get a whiff of my favorite smell...strawberries and vanilla. There was only one person in the whole world who smelled like that and it's Lucy, but it can't be her because she left months ago.' As I attempt to shrug away that thought I hear her beautiful voice ring in my ears and when I turned towards the sound I see her and a bunch of Sabers talking to one another. I whistle to me team and they all look over to me. I then point at the Sabers and we walk over to them trying to look badass. However, Happy tripped on our way over and my concern for him kinda threw off the whole badass thing. Everything leading up to that point looked cool I'm sure of it! As we finally make our way over to them I see Lucy lower her head as if attempting to not make eye contact.
"Lucy...." I whisper just loud enough for dragon slayer ears.
"N-Natsu...." I hear her whisper back which makes my heart race a little faster.
"Why did you leave? I thought we were nakama.." I continue
"No, I was just a replacement for your lost loved one or at least that's what it felt like...I didn't feel at home anymore." She confesses which makes my breathing slow and my world shut down. In that second I could swear that I died a little bit. Nakama was something that I've always fought for and I couldn't protect it. I slowly move my hand and touch the side of her cheek softly before raising her face so that her eyes could meet mine. I watched as her tears began to fall from those beautiful brown orbs that used to glow with happiness upon seeing me. I felt like more of an idiot than ever, I was always in love with her.
"You were never a replacement.." I say unconsciously even though I know very well that I meant it. 
"Natsu, I left because I felt like a stranger in my own home. I left because I found new family, I have a new life, a new love, and new friends." I hear her whisper before running away. I however, I couldn't move, I felt like my hear was just torn to pieces.

Erza P.O.V
I watched their entire inaudible conversation knowing very well that all the dragon slayers could hear. When Natsu lifted her face and I saw her tears I knew what was happening and it pained me to watch. I was going to speak up but the words just got caught in my throat and I became just a bystander. Suddenly Lucy just darts away, down the beach and out of sight. The Sabers didn't even hesitate before launching themselves after her. This felt wrong, that should be us going after her....NOT THEM!

A/N: So I had a really hard time writing this chapter, I recently lost my boyfriend so I've been super depressed these days with zero inspiration to write. With school coming back up on Monday it will be tough to find time to write again but I will try my best. This probably isn't the best chapter because I had to keep stopping and coming back to it later. The writer's block was real!