Fairy Heart

Summary: With Zeref making the first move in this war by striking hard and striking fast, not everyone in the guild will make it out unscathed. But love comes in many forms, and Lucy is ready to show Zeref that love is stronger than anything he may throw their way. (Slightly AU)

Couples: NaLu, Gruvia, GaLe, Jerza, RoWen, Miraxus

Author's Note: Hello everybody! Quick background to my story, this is set right after the Avatar Arc (where everyone renuintes), and then slightly deviates from there. It doesn't go straight into the conflict with the Alvarez Empire and Makarov never went there to negotiate, so the war is being prolonged for a bit. That's all I can say without giving too much away, so I hope you enjoy =) - Zara

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, but you know, maybe one day.

[CHAPTER ONE – And Tragedy Strikes]

Lucy sighed in exasperation, ignoring Natsu's obnoxious cackling and instead focusing on Gray's semi-healed, but still bruised face.

"Shut the fuck up Flame Brain," Gray grumbled in annoyance, looking about ready to pounce on his friend. "It's not that funny."

The glare Gray shot Natsu's way did nothing to deter his amusement and only seemed to intensify the bails of mocking laughter as the Dragon Slayer almost fell out of his seat.

"Natsu…" Lisanna chided softly, trailing off as she too sighed at her friend's antics. She turned to look at Lucy for help, but the blonde merely rolled her eyes at her immature partner and ignored the urge to push him out of his seat herself.

"Just ignore him Lisanna," Elfman instructed from across the table, then turned to Gray with an approving look in his eye. "Those bruises are manly!"

Gray shot Elfman the very same glare he was giving Natsu, before deflating in his seat, calling out to Mira for a beer. Sending Kinana over with the cold drink, the Ice Mage downed half the bottle in one gulp while Happy and Charle eyed him in both awe and disapproval.

"Natsu, I think Gray is turning into Cana!" exclaimed Happy, flying over from his place on their table to land on his partner's shoulder, nearly falling off with how he was still trembling with laughter.

"Gray, you shouldn't drink so much," Charle tsked.

"Why don't all of you just leave me alone," Gray lamented, slumping forward to rest his head on the table. "Shouldn't you be with Wendy?" he mumbled as an afterthought.

Charle shrugged, paws on her hips in nonchalance. "Wendy and Romeo are at the park, babysitting Asuka," she answered, as if that explained things. Which to Lucy it did; she knew the white Exceed hated playing at the park where there were so many people mulling about 'being uncivilized' and 'rolling in filth'.

When Natsu's laughter began to escalate in volume, Lucy snapped, finally shoving her best friend sideways and snorting as he toppled off the chair he was sitting on in a startled mess. Elfman, Happy (who had switched to Lucy's shoulder in the nick of time) and Lisanna all burst out into laughter, but the blonde merely turned back to Gray with a look on her face so stern, it could have rivaled Erza's.

"So?" she demanded, forcing Gray to lift his head back up. "Are you going to tell us what happened this time?"

Growling, Gray took another swig of his beer. "Hell if I know."

"Well, since this is the fifth time this month you've come back to the guild with a black eye, I can only assume that it was Gajeel again," Lucy deduced, with a hint of disapproval in her tone. "And since Gajeel doesn't usually start fights without provocation, I'm guessing you did something to tick him off."

"I get attacked and suddenly it's my fault?" the boy snapped, glaring moodily at her. Lucy didn't know what was going on with the boys lately, but ever since her, Natsu and Happy reinstated Fairy Tail, tensions have been running a bit high.

She knew it was naïve of her to believe that things would automatically go back to the way things were from a year ago, but she had hoped. Everyone was so happy to come back, and they spent almost a full week partying and refurbishing their guildhall, especially in the latter part of that week when Master and Laxus had made their way home. That was nearly two and a half months ago, and for some reason, Gray found a new rival in Gajeel, fighting much more with the Iron Dragon Slayer lately than he did with even Natsu. She didn't know what exactly had brought it on, but she had her suspicions.

"Hey, don't jump down Lucy's throat just because you got your ass handed to you," Natsu piped in unhelpfully, jumping back up and into his seat with a scowl.

Ignoring him again, Lucy quickly intervened, not liking the viscous gleam in Gray's eyes as he turned to the Fire Mage, ready to pick yet another fight.

"Gray, seriously, what's been going on with you? Not to say that you and Gajeel were ever best friends or anything, but you never used to fight this much, and without reason too."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he denied, looking away stubbornly. Scowling at his attitude, Natsu opened his mouth to reprimand him but Lucy quickly jabbed him in his side to shut him up.

"Now that you mention it Lucy," Lisanna continued, a thoughtful look on her face, "they have been fighting a lot, usually whenever Ju –."

"It's nothing," Gray snapped irritably, taking another, much longer chug of his almost empty beer bottle.

"Man, you're acting like a bigger asshole today than usual, Ice Dick," came Natsu's unnecessary comment.

"Whenever what?" Elfman asked confusedly with a scratch of his snowy white head, and Lucy and Lisanna exchanged another exasperated look at the boys' immaturity and cluelessness.

Happy took off from Lucy's shoulder and hovered over the table, calling out teasingly, "I think she was going to say Juvi –."

"Shut up, you dumb cat!" Gray snarled, causing the flying feline to gasp in fear and dive down to hide in Lucy's hair.

"Luuuuucy," the little blue cat whined, cowering slightly while Charle rolled her eyes. "Gray's being mean." Pulling the Exceed out of her hair and onto her lap where she could run her fingers through his soft fur, Lucy eyed her friend.

"Is that what this is about? The fact that Juvia went on a job with Gajeel?"

Gray balked, avoiding the question by downing the rest of his drink before calling out for another one.

"So you're acting this way because you're jealous?" Charle deadpanned, not at all impressed.

"Jealousy is the ultimate sign of a man," Elfman declared approvingly and Lisanna glared at him.

"No it's not," she hissed, "jealousy is petty and unnecessary and just creates problems." To Lucy's right, Natsu went unnecessarily quiet and she almost laughed at how obvious her partner was about his own feelings.

"I'm not jealous," Gray vehemently denied, accepting the new bottle of beer from Kinana before taking another long swig. "Juvia and I don't have that kind of… this isn't about her," he quickly amended.

"But weren't you two living together for a year?" Charle reminded him.

"Six months," Gray corrected her under his breath.

"If you aren't jealous, then why are you so angry?" Lucy asked, believing that she had cornered him.

"It's nothing," he mumbled again, avoiding all eye contact with his friends.

Lucy sighed, opening her mouth to continue arguing with him when she was cut off by a soft voice at the table over.

"It's not Gray who's angry, it's Gajeel." Levy McGarden hadn't looked up from the large novel she was reading, even while Lucy's table was getting increasingly loud, and spoke with her nose still in the book. In the seats in front of her, Jet and Droy were stuffing their face with the shepherd's pie Mira had prepared for them.

"What do you mean Levy?" Elfman asked her, looking beyond confused. Again, Lucy had a feeling she knew what had come over the two boys, but she waited for Levy to either confirm or deny her suspicions.

Levy kept her head facing forward as she flipped to the next page in her book, though her eyes would dart sideways to her group of friends at the next table. Gray, Lucy noticed, was shooting Levy an intense, warning look to which the petite bookworm ignored.

"Why would Gajeel be mad at Gray?" Lisanna urged, no doubt excited with the little bit of gossip she could extract from the situation.

Finally putting down her book, she stood up and approached their table, meeting Gray's tense eyes head on. "Because he doesn't approve of Gray," she answered. On his part, the Ice Mage scowled and looked away, and Lucy could tell that Levy's words irritated him much more than he would ever let on.

"Approve of him?" Natsu echoed, finally rejoining the conversation. "What does that even mean?"
Levy shrugged. "Ever since he found out what happened in that year we were all separated, he hasn't fully forgiven Gray for leaving Juvia alone, all by herself. He says, and I quote, 'the bastard doesn't deserve her'."

Lucy listened as her suspicions were confirmed, eyeing Gray in interest for his reaction to her words. All in all, he seemed uncaring, indifferent, but Lucy had known Gray for a long time and was almost as close to him as she was Natsu. She could see the way his jaw clenched and how his hand tightened on the drink he was holding, allowing his magic to escape him a little as frost started to creep down from the lip of the bottle.

Natsu seemed to notice too, kicking his rival under the table until he let go of the bottle and scowled at the other boy.

"But Juvia doesn't seem to care," Charle pointed out.

Again, Levy shrugged. "Gajeel does."

"Hmm," Elfman pondered, closing his eyes in concentration. "I never realized Juvia and Gajeel were still so close, I never really see them together."

"Well they did come from same guild," Happy offered, purring a bit as Lucy continued absent-mindedly stroking his head.

"As much as he denies it," Levy continued, "I think Gajeel feels indebted to Juvia. After all, she was the one who invited him to join the guild with her; and she vouched for him to Master. He's known her a lot longer than any of us, and understands things about her that we don't. She probably understands him better too," she mumbled that last bit to herself, sounding oddly bitter. Lucy blinked, making a mental note to talk to her best girl friend about it later.

"Well, what happened this time then?" Natsu asked, turning to address Gray instead of Levy. "Why did he kick your ass yesterday?"

Scowling, Gray shot Levy a nasty look and replied, "why don't you ask his girlfriend, since she knows so much."

The tips of Levy's ears turned bright pink. "W-w-wh-wha-what?" she sputtered, mouth popping open in shock. "I'm not his girlfriend!"

Lisanna and Lucy giggled at their friend's flustered behaviour.

"What happened yesterday Levy?" Elfman asked the girl again.

Fanning herself to calm down and willing the colour to drain from her face, Levy spoke up again, sending Gray a glare of her own.

"From what I could tell, Juvia was asking Gray to go on a job with her when Gajeel cut in and said he would go with her instead. I think Juvia tried to argue, but Gajeel just pulled her away and when Gray tried to stop him, he lashed out."

"Jeez, that guy needs to learn how chill out," said Natsu, crossing his arms over his chest, clearly declaring whose side he was on in this whole mess.

"So this is all because Gray abandoned Juvia when they lived together?" Lisanna clarified. Her words seemed to snap Gray out of his silent protest.

"I didn't abandon her," he snarled, looking a lot angrier than he had earlier. Lucy suspected it had something to do with the two beers he finished off in the past 15 minutes. "I had to leave for a bit, I was going to come back. Erza asked me to help her. I wasn't just going to say no. I had a job to do." He reinforced each word with such assuring fury that Lucy couldn't help but wonder if he was trying to convince them or himself.

"Well Gajeel doesn't see it that way," Levy argued back. "From his point of view, you were living with Juvia and you just up and left her."

"Who the fuck cares about what your boyfriend thinks. How is it even any of his business? It wasn't like he was there for her either last year, let alone those last six months. I actually had a reason to leave."

"And you think that makes it okay?" Lucy cut in, her voice shaking. Flashes of a certain letter left on her desk and the year she spent so very much alone flitted across her mind, sparking an itch behind her eyes, causing them to glisten. "You think that just because you're 'not dating' or that you 'had a job to do' it makes it okay to leave? You think that it's okay to abandon your friends without a care of how they feel? Just because Juvia may have understood your reason doesn't change the fact that she was all alone, waiting for you for six months."

By that point, Lucy was trembling, a couple tears spilling over and splashing on top of Happy's head.

"Lucy…" the feline called softly, eyes wide in guilty shock. From beside them, Natsu was watching her with a stricken expression on his normally jovial face.

"You could have at least told her where you were going or what you were planning to do. And don't give me any of that I-wanted-to-protect-her bullshit," she snapped when she saw Gray's mouth open behind her freefalling tears.

She hadn't thought about that dark year in a long time, and she hadn't cried like this since the first few months of Fairy Tail's disbandment.

"You know Juvia is an amazingly capable mage who could have handled herself. You're just like every other guy who doesn't think or care how his actions may affect other people. Of course you abandoning her would affect her, and yes, it is considered abandonment if you leave without a word. Nobody likes getting left behind Gray."

She hadn't realized how riled up she was getting that, by the end of her speech, Lucy was practically screaming at her Ice Mage friend, her chair having knocked down to the floor when she stood up unknowingly and every eye in the guild upon them.

Gray and Natsu were both staring at her with an odd mixture of guilt and horror, while Lisanna watched on in sympathy. Levy had tears in her own eyes and Elfman was looking away, unable to handle a girl's tears. At some point, Lucy must have let go of Happy, for she noticed he was sitting back on the table beside Charle, tears at the corners of his eyes.

Eyes wild and breath uneven, Lucy was about to turn to storm out of the guild to cool off when Natsu's ears twitched and he turned to the doors, just as they burst open with a gunshot bang, causing nearly every person in the guild to jump out of their seats in either surprise or defense.

When Lucy turned to stare at the intruders, she immediately screamed, her hand flying to her mouth as gasps echoed across the guild. Standing at the mouth of the hall, bloody and panting and looking as if every part of his body was broken was Gajeel, arms full with a large bundle in blue. Floating above him frantically was Pantherlily, also injured and with a few feathers missing from his wings.

"Gajeel!," came the panicked cry of her best friend, as the little Solid Script Mage rushed forward to the front of the hall, Mira and Jet at her heels. She reached him just as Gajeel's knees gave in, collapsing almost on top of the small girl as she caught him. Above them, Lily faltered as well, his wings disappearing as the transformation wore off, falling into the waiting arms of Mira.

"Lily, are you okay?" Happy called, flying over to the group with Charle on his tail.

The little Exceed didn't answer, trembling slightly and coughing up blood on Mira's white dress.

"Gajeel! Gajeel!" Levy was crying harder by this point, shaking the Dragon Slayer who was silent but still conscious. Jet ran to Gajeel's other side to help Levy support the much larger man, while Warren hurried forward to grab the blue bundle from Gajeel's arms. However, before he had the chance to, the Iron Mage nearly bit his arms off, careening back and away from all three of his guildmates, crushing whatever he was holding in his arms tighter to his chest.

"Ga-Gajeel?" Levy asked through her tears.

"Wendy," the injured mage rasped, tears of blood running down his face.

The guild was silent, waiting for him to continue as a thought suddenly crossed Lucy's mind. Turning to Gray who was behind her, she could see the look of unmatched horror and realized he thought of the same thing too. Where was Juvia?

"What is all the commotion?" a voice called from the second floor of the guild. Lucy looked up to see Erza descending down the stairs slowly, but then speeding up when she saw the condition with which her fellow guild mates returned.

"Wendy," Gajeel whispered again as Erza approached him.

"Jet, go to Polyursica's. Master is with her, bring them both back," Erza instructed as she kneeled down in front of Gajeel, not bothering to see if the mage was following her instructions.

"Happy, Charle," she continued, reaching for whatever Gajeel was holding, who flinched back, "find Wendy and the others and bring them back to the guild. Kinana, Max, prep the infirmary, three beds."

"T-three?" Max clarified.

"Yes," Erza replied gravely, and Lucy had to swallow back her dread.

"Help her," Gajeel growled before anyone else had a chance to speak. Lucy couldn't see whom he was referring to, but she had an idea. "She's barely breathing."

Swallowing thickly, Lucy called out to them. "Is that…?"

"Help her, please." And just then, as Gajeel relinquished his package to Erza's arms and collapsed at her feet, Erza moved just enough so that Lucy was able to see what he was holding and gasped in shock and terror.

In Erza's arms was the pale face of Juvia Lockser, eyes open and unblinking, chest barely rising and falling with breath.

"Asuka," Romeo called out to the little girl, preparing herself to jump down the slide. At the call of her name, she waved her little hand and smiled. "Be careful!"

Beside him, Wendy giggled and he turned to face her.

"Don't worry so much Romeo-kun," she chided softly from her place on the swings. She pushed back and launched herself, pumping her small legs smoothly to gain acceleration. Romeo watched her, leaning against the pole that supported the swings. "We're here to have fun."

"Actually, Asuka's here to have fun. We're here to watch her," he reminded the young Dragon Slayer, watching as the light of the sun bounced radiantly off her wildly swinging tresses.

Slowing to a halt, Wendy's face turned solemn. "You're right. We shouldn't be playing around."

Resisting the urge to remind her that it was only she that was playing around, Romeo sighed. Straightening his posture before walking around the pole to stand behind her, he gave the girl a gentle push, startling her.

"R-Romeo-kun?" she questioned, gripping the chains of the swing tightly and trying to look over her shoulder. This, however, proved to be difficult for risk of falling on her bum and Romeo was glad. After all, he definitely did not want to her to see him bright pink in embarrassment.

"A-anyways," he croaked, coughing to clear his throat before continuing. "Where's Charle? It's rare to see you without her."

Wendy giggled. "I think she went to the guild today. When she heard that Asuka-chan wanted to go to the park, she immediately refused to come with us."

Romeo nodded, though the girl he was softly pushing forward, swinging like a pendulum, probably couldn't see him. "I still don't understand how you raised Charle from an egg. The difference between you two is crazy. She's so prim and proper."

"Well, Charle is a princess, you know. Maybe she has like built-in manners."

"And yet Lucy-nee practically grew up as royalty and she's just as insane as the rest of us," Romeo snorted and Wendy laughed again.

"Romeo! Wendy!" came Asuka's excited squeal as she charged her way down the twisting slide. "Look at me!"

The two young mages turned just in time to see the tail end of the child's ride, gliding along the plastic at full speed, not stopping until she literally flew off the mouth and landed face first into the sand. The two little boys she was playing with cackled in laughter while another girl, maybe a year or two older called down from the top of the jungle gym to see if she was alright.

"Asuka-chan!" Wendy cried, as she jumped out of her seat without waiting for it to stop and prepared to run over to the fallen child with Romeo. However, before they could even take a step forward, Asuke pulled her head out of the sand and let out a snort of laughter.

"That was fun! I want to do it again," was her boisterous declaration, already racing back up the jungle gym.

"No fair, Asuka-tan," one of the boys she was playing with called from somewhere at the top of the slide. "It's my turn next."

As the children bickered, Romeo faced Wendy and rolled his eyes, causing Wendy to let out another giggle. "Children," he stated in exasperation, as if that explained all.

"I forgot how freeing it is to be a kid," Wendy replied, seeming to understand the meaning behind her friend's one word.

"You're still a kid too, you know," he scoffed and Wendy looked at him, affronted.

"Then so are you!" she protested, hands on her hips with a glare that was probably meant to be fearsome, but couldn't be described as anything else but adorable.

"Am not!" Romeo countered, crossing his arms. "I'm already 14 years old."

"Well, I'm 13."

"You're still a kid until you turn 14."

"That's not true, you're a teenager at 13!"

"Fine, you're still a kid until you reach this height," he argued back, smirking as he lifted his hand to indicate about an inch and a half over Wendy's head.

Pouting in annoyance, Wendy crossed her arms. "You can't just make up your own rules. I can go on jobs with the adults, which means I am one."

Romeo's smirk grew wider. "I don't know. I've never seen you on a quest so how do I know you're pulling your own weight?"

Wendy's jaw dropped. "Did you really just…?"

Laughing, Romeo ruffled his friend's hair and turned back to watch Asuka's second attempt down the slide while saying, "I guess I'll never know unless we go on a job together."

With his eyes on Asuka, Romeo missed the sharp, crimson blush making its way over Wendy's face, but before she could retort, the panicked cry of her name pulled her attention away.

"Wendy!"

It was Charle and Happy, flying at max speed over to the two young mages with identical looks of pale shock on their furry faces.

"Charle!" Wendy cried, catching the white exceed that practically barreled into her arms, sending her back a bit. Happy didn't stop, instead flying circles over their little group.

Romeo frowed, immediately on alert and purple fire already in hand. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Did something happen to the guild?" Wendy questioned frantically, extending her arms so that she could check over her partner for injuries.

"It's Gajeel and Lily," Happy announced, finally landing on the ground at their feet, tears in his large eyes. "They need your help."

The was more than enough for Romeo. "Charle, bring Wendy back to the build as fast as you can."

"Romeo-kun."

"Go now!" he barked out, already running to where Asuka had just deposited out of the mouth of the slide. Hearing the telltale sign of flapping wings, he sighed in relief and ignored the sounds of chattering mothers as they gossiped at the display of the usual disruption of Fairy Tail.

"Romeo," said Asuka as he approached. He didn't bother to explain before picking her up and walking back to wear Happy stood waiting. "Where did Wendy go?" She wasn't protesting to being led away from her playtime, and Romeo could only assume that the little girl already knew something was wrong.

"Sorry Asuka, but its time to go back to the guild," he announced firmly just as Happy grabbed hold of his shoulders and took off. "I think something bad has happened."

Author's Note: Hello to everyone who read the first chapter of Fairy Heart to the end. I hope you review and follow/favourite my story if you like it. I'll see you at my next update!

–Zara