Fairy Heart

Zara's Note: Hello all. I'm sorry this took so long, and for those of you who saw that I accidently posted the fifth chapter for my other story under this one, I'm really sorry. I was going to work so I was posting things quickly and my head just wasn't on straight. But here it is, the proper chapter in its proper place. I took the title of this chapter from a book of the same name that was written by Diana Peterfreund. I never actually read it, but I read it's sequel/side story book, Across a Star Swept Sea, and it was actually amazing, one of my favourites to read last year. Anyways, here's the next chapter.

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

[CHAPTER FIVE – For Darkness Shows the Stars]

She floated in a vast abyss of darkness, the silence roaring in her ears. She stared straight ahead with lidded eyes. Where was she? Who was she?

"Hello?" she called out and her voice was sucked into space like a vacuum, no echo, nothing. And she realized absentmindedly that she was suspended, body in the air with support suspiciously missing from underneath her. How did she get here?

Trying to focus her sight on anything besides the black void, she looked left and right but she was met with the same sight. She fingered the flowing white dress that encased her body wondering what she was supposed to do now. She lifted her arms, noticing on the back of her right hand was a curious pink symbol – what was that supposed to be? – and embedded in her left palm, in glowing azure font, was the number 53:28, counting down by the second. What in the world?

She tried to rack her brain for something, anything that would explain what she was doing there, focusing on the countdown on her hand. And then a memory formed in her mind.

"Remember, you only have one hour to go in there, find her and get out," a man spoke, blue hair shifting over his eyes as he spoke. He had a swirling black tattoo over one eye and a gentle smile on his lips. "Meredy can only keep the connection for so long. Any longer than that and she'll die, taking you two along with her."

She frowned. "But how will I know when my time is up?"

"Give me your hand." She raised her left arm, settling her hand in his while he closed his eyes, concentrating. Laying his free hand over the palm of hers, he whispered some foreign words and then her hand was burning.

"Ow," she bit out, retracting her arm, but then the pain was gone and there, in the palm of her hand, were the glowing numbers 60:00.

"I'll start the timer after Meredy performs the spell. Your hand will start to burn at the halfway point, and then again when 45 minutes have passed. Once you hit 10 minutes left, your hand will continue to increase in heat to remind you that you need to leave. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

Right, so according to the man with the blue hair (Jellal, she remembered), she only had an hour here. Okay. So then what? What did he say she had to do again? Find her? Who was "her"?

She tried to focus again on the memory, hoping to remember something more.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

The woman who spoke to her was impossibly beautiful, scarlet hair falling down her back like a waterfall. She wore a blue skirt and white blouse, and the look on her face was stern but concerned.

"It'll be very dangerous for you."

She smiled softly, washing her hands at the sink. They were in a washroom, and she stared at herself in the mirror. Long blonde hair, bright brown eyes. She looked determined.

"Don't worry Erza, I'll be fine. I want to do this."

"Just be careful then," the woman, Erza, instructed, extending her arms to hug the girl.

Okay, she had a little bit more of the puzzle, but she still had no idea what she was supposed to do. She looked down at her palm, reading 50:55. She still had time.

With the two memories anchoring her down, her consciousness sharpened a bit and she noticed that the darkness was going fuzzy as light threated to shine through. Her surroundings weren't so bleak anymore, but she still couldn't make out where she was. Figuring that her memories were what were allowing her to orient herself to the situation, she closed her eyes in concentration.

"Lu-chan."

She turned around and was surprised at the group of people greeting her, sad expressions on their faces. The girl who spoke, short and sweet with blue hair pulled back with a headband, looked especially worried, running up to her to grab both her hands.

"Don't worry Levy-chan," she laughed. "I'll be okay. Jeez, you're all acting like I'm heading off to war or something."

Then a little girl, no older than 13, launched herself foreword, throwing her arms around her and burying her face in her stomach.

"J-just… come back okay?" she stuttered, her words muffled. She wrapped her arms around the younger girl. Wendy. "I-I don't kn-know if I c-could stand it if you were g-go-gone too."

Her eyes softened. "Just wait for me. When I get back, I'll treat you to ice-cream."

"Bring our girl home okay?" This time it was a pretty brunette, showing a startling amount of skin. As she made her rounds, reassuring various different people that she would be fine and bring her back, she couldn't help but feel loved.

So, she assumed, when the flashback finished, that she was whom they called Lu-chan, though that was an odd name. Suddenly, her world shifted into view and she could see clearly, as if she was looking through a blurred camera and then unexpectedly, someone focused the lens. Bare feet touching what she assumed was cold, marble flooring, Lucy found herself standing in what appeared to be a hallway, golden ornate doors lining the sea blue walls. Little chandeliers shining white light were strung along the ceiling, leading further down the hall, the end of which was nowhere in sight. She looked down at her palm. 47:56. She still had time, right?

It was her understanding that, the more she remembered about who she was and what she was doing there, the less she was sucked into the darkness. Things became clearer. Just a little bit more.

"Don't pry into places you're not s'pose to," a gruff man with metal piercings across his face growled at her. She rolled her eyes. "She comes with a lot o' baggage, so don't you dare go looking for things you shouldn't be."

"Stop worrying Gajeel," she told him. They were in some sort of hospital room and people were scurrying around behind her, getting something ready, but she had her focus trained on the scowling man in front of her.

"I ain't worrying," he scoffed as she smiled at him. Gajeel would never change.

"Yes you are," she teased him, jabbing him with her elbow. "We all know Juvia's your best friend." Someone cleared their throat to the left of her and she turned to a little black cat, who stared at her as if offended. "Besides Lily, of course," she corrected herself.

"Shut up," Gajeel hissed, though the faintest of reds coloured his cheeks. "The Rain Woman ain't my friend."

But she ignored him and turned to face the last bed of the room. A pretty girl, hair blue and black eyes lifeless, lay on the mattress, and she was reminded of her purpose. She had to free her from her prison.

Lu-chan blinked as she fell back into her present situation. She was so close; she was almost there. She just needed two names, the one she was looking for and then her own. For some reason, she had a feeling that she couldn't venture any further unless she could remember those; she knew it would be too dangerous. If she didn't remember now, they would be forever lost.

Suddenly, someone giggled behind her and she nearly screamed, whipping around to face the unknown intruder. Peeking out from behind one of the doors down on the opposite end of the hallway was a little girl, maybe around 6, staring at her. Her long blue hair was curled tightly at the ends and falling just above her shoulders, black eyes wide with curiosity. She wore a little white hat on top of her head and white dress similar to what Lu-chan herself was wearing. When she noticed her staring back at her, the little girl squeaked and shut the door she was hiding behind firmly.

Unsure if what she saw just then was real, Lu-chan approached the door, tracing the intricate patterns of gold before knocking hesitantly.

"W-who is it?" a small, sweet voice called from the other side, clearly terrified.

"Err… it's Lu-chan," she croaked hesitantly, her voice hoarse.

The door cracked open a smidgeon and a single, large eye looked up at her. "How did Lu-chan get here?"

She didn't know how to answer that. "I don't know, I can't really remember, but I know I'm here to look for someone. How did you get here?"

The door opened wider, revealing all of the little girl's pretty face, but she still didn't exit the safety of the room. She shrugged her shoulders. "Juvi-chan has lived here her whole life. She is always here."

"So you're name is Juvi-chan?"

The little girl smiled, stepping out of the dim room and into the bright hallway. "Hai!"

Lu-chan smiled warmly. "And how old are you Juvi-chan?"

"Juvi-chan is this many!" she announced proudly, holding up five fingers. Lu-chan laughed and kneeled down to look the little girl in the eye.

"Wow," she exclaimed in wonderment and the girl nodded excitedly. "You're so big now. What are you doing here all by yourself?"

Suddenly, the little girl wasn't so happy anymore. Eyes downcast and teary, she sniffled. "Juvi-chan is always alone. It's because wherever Juvi-chan goes, so does the rain."

It was such a sad, lonely statement, Lu-chan frowned in compassion. Taking one of Juvi-chan's hands in each of her own, she squeezed them until the little girl looked up at her again. She smiled, as reassuringly as she could.

"Don't worry Juvi-chan, you're not alone anymore. I'm here now, and I actually quite like the rain."

And then she jumped forward into Lu-chan's arms, knocking her down to the ground just as another memory bombarded her.

"Gray."

It was her voice, but it was so much softer, so much sadder. It held such heartbreak and sympathy in it. She spoke to another dark haired man, but he wasn't as intimidating as Gajeel. He was sitting on the edge of the roof of some building, sulking by the looks of it, half naked. She climbed out through the second story window to sit beside him at the roof's ledge.

"What do you want?" he hissed, a beer bottle in hand and looking thoroughly pissed.

"You shouldn't drink up here," she lectured disapprovingly, trying to reach for the bottle but he pulled away. "You could fall."

He ignored her, taking an extra long swig of his beer for emphasis. "Go away."

She sighed. Why were boys so complicated?

"Look, I know you really care about her," she started but was cut off when he growled at her.

"I don't care about her," he snapped, looking away.

She glared at him. "Then figure out what you do feel, otherwise you have no right to be this pissy about some girl you don't care for."

Instead of answering, he took another chug of his drink.

"I just wanted to let you know that Meredy's performing the spell soon," she continued, her voice softening again. "And no matter how much you deny it, I know she's special to you. I don't know why you're holding back so much when she's so clearly and openly in love with you, Gray, but you have to know how lucky you are. There aren't many people who can love so freely like that."

She got up from her seat to head back inside but not before hearing his last words.

"I know I'm lucky. Juvia means everything to me."

"Juvia," Lu-chan whispered into the head of blue hair that was currently squeezing the life out of her.

"Huh?" Juvi-chan hiccupped, lifting her large, tear-filled eyes to her face.

"That's who I'm looking for," Lu-chan said, voice raising in volume. An image of a curvy, blue-haired woman flitted into her mind, wearing a navy winter coat with a matching hat. Her friend, Juvia. How could she have forgotten. "Juvia!"

"You know Juvi?"

Lu-chan's eyes snapped to the little girl. "What?"

"Juvi is like Juvi-chan but bigger!" she exclaimed innocently, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Lu-chan was still lost.

"Wait, there are others here as well?"

She nodded, though, for a second, a flash of fear flitted through her eyes. "Just Juvi and Juvi-chan here. But the bad man is here too. He came here, just like you."

Lu-chan's heart stopped.

"The bad man?"

Juvi-chan nodded again, looking left and right as if the bad man was going to appear any second. "The bad man came from nowhere and was about to grab Juvi-chan but Juvi protected her and told her to run. Juvi is really strong you know, and she's really happy all the time now."

Lu-chan gulped. She suddenly felt colder, more afraid. Something wasn't right here. "Where is Juvia now?"

Juvi-chan looked like she was about to cry again. Shaking her head, she let the tears fall. "Juvi-chan doesn't know. She tried looking for Juvi but she couldn't find her. Juvi-chan is all alone again."

Lu-chan stopped and wracked her brain. What was she supposed to do now? This sounded dangerous, much more dangerous than she had originally thought. She didn't remember anything about anybody else being involved. She suddenly felt like she was in way over her head.

Juvi-chan was crying again, pretty crystalline tears leaking out of her eyes and somewhere in the vast space they were in, behind one of the closed doors, thunder boomed.

One last memory filled her heart.

"I don't like this."

The man she was sitting beside wasn't like any of the others, and she didn't feel for him the same way either. Her heart squeezed at his words and she wrapped her left hand in his right, letting his warmth fill her with comfort. She rested her head on his shoulder, allowing her true feelings of insecurity and fear flow out of her. Perched on her lap was a little blue cat.

"Natsu, please," she whispered, using her other hand to rub the top of the feline's head.

"No," he huffed, grinding his teeth together in apprehension. "It's dangerous. You shouldn't be going in alone."

"I can handle this," she spoke again, trying to be reassuring for the both of them.

"Natsu, you know she's strong," the cat said, looking up at the couple in worry. "She can handle anything!"

"I know that, Happy," Natsu snapped, looking away as a rare blush coloured his cheeks. "I believe in her, you know I do. I just…" He trailed off, unable to continue. She lifted her head from his shoulder to look at him but he wouldn't meet her gaze.

"Natsu, tell me what's really bugging you."

He shook his head but she reached over with the hand that was previously petting Happy, the cat and placed it along his jaw, pulling it towards her so he'd face her.

"Natsu."

"I just don't want to lose you," he mumbled and she smiled warmly.

"I'm not going anywhere," she hissed, squeezing his hand.

Happy looked up at her. "Do you promise?"

"Cross my heart," she replied firmly, bringing her hand back down to his little head. "Besides, if I'm gone, who's going to keep an eye on you two idiots."

"Hey!" Happy whined, waving his arms in the air. "I'm not an idiot. Natsu on the other hand…"

"What?" the man gasped. "Are you saying that I am?"

"Aye sir!" the cat nodded cheekily and she laughed at her boys. That's right, they were her boys. Her best friends. Her family.

Someone from behind her called their attention and the group turned as Erza walked up to them, a blank expression on her face. "It's time. Meredy's ready for you."

She nodded, getting up, Natsu's hand still laced in hers. She hugged Happy first, squishing him to her chest as he trembled against her. After she handed the cat to Erza, she turned to Natsu, who stared at her with an intense, smoldering gaze.

"I'll be fine," she whispered, closing her eyes as he closed in on her. He rested his forehead against hers, their breaths mingling. He was so close, so warm. She felt safe, like the weight of a life wasn't resting entirely on her shoulders.

"I believe you," he whispered back. They didn't care that they were sharing this intimate moment with an audience. She just wanted to savour the feel of him. "I'll always believe in you."

"Thank you."

When she pulled away from him, she squeezed his hand and smiled, and then suddenly, he was pulling her back to him, wrapping his arms around her and whispering in her ear.

"Just be careful, Lucy."

Lucy.

Lucy.

Lucy.

And then every single one of her memories came back to her. Her home, her parents, the guild. She remembered all the adventures she went on with Natsu and Happy by her side, and all the people she met along the way. She remembered her spirits, and her friends at the guild. She remembered everything! She couldn't believe she had almost forgotten her own name.

The sense of urgency rushed into her like a shockwave. She looked down at her palm. 44:02. She had less than ¾ of an hour to find Juvia and get out of there. She had to hurry.

"Juvi-chan," she said, and the little girl stopped her crying. "I need your help. Do you know how to get around this place?"

She sniffled, nodding. "Juvi-chan plays here all the time."

"So you know where each door leads to, and how to open them?"

It was only a hunch but Lucy guessed that each door led to either one of Juvia's memories, or thoughts and feelings. All the doors were shut at the moment, possibly locked to keep out intruders, but if she could just open each door, maybe her mind would be more susceptible to freeing them.

The child version of Juvia nodded again.

Lucy's brain whirled as she stood up, righting Juvi-chan as well. She eyed the child curiously. Lucy didn't know a lot about it, but she knew Juvia didn't have the best childhood. This younger version of herself was probably a manifestation of her need to relive it, the need to hold onto the hurt she had felt when she was younger. Lucy didn't think it was an alternate personality, per se, but probably just a piece of Juvia that she couldn't let go of just yet. Which was fortunate for Lucy; she would need Juvi-chan's help if she were going to navigate this maze of Juvia's memories.

"Juvi-chan, I need you to listen to me very carefully."

When the child nodded, she pressed on urgently. "I'm one of Juvia's friends, and I'm here to save her from the bad man. Do you understand?"

Juvi-chan's eyes widened, a sudden fear in them. "But the bad man is scary."

Lucy had no idea who this bad man was, but she could only assume he was the mage who trapped Juvia here, the one performing the magic. He had to be.

"I know, but I need to help her. I'm going to make the bad man go away, okay? Do you believe me?"

She hesitated, looking skeptical. "But how are you going to do that?"

"First, I need to find Juvia. Can you help me look for her? We'll worry about the bad man when we get to it."

Juvi-chan didn't answer at first. She shuffled her feet nervously on the floor, hopping from side to side. She looked restless, unsure of herself, like she wanted to help but was too afraid to. Then she stopped, looking up directly into Lucy's eyes and smiled brightly.

"Okay," she cried, lunging forward to hug Lucy around the waist again. Lucy held her ground, stopping the two of them from falling over a second time. They didn't have time for any of that. "Juvi-chan will Lu-chan look for Juvi, because Lu-chan is Juvi-chan's friend!"

Lucy laughed, squeezing the girl tight then letting go. Was this what it was like to be friends with Juvia?

"Thank you Juvi-chan. Lead the way."

The girl clasped her hand around Lucy's and took her down the hallway, opening the first door to the right.

Zara's Note: Thank you once again for everyone's support; your reviews genuinely make me very happy and I'm glad for those people who are invested in this story. Also, thank you for waiting so patiently for this chapter. I know this chapter was a little confusing, so please, give me some feedback and let me know what you think! Just for clarification/future reference:

Juvi = normal/adult Juvia

Juvi-chan = little, 5 year old manifestation of Juvia, created by her in her own mind

Lu-chan = what Juvi-chan calls Lucy.

Anyways, hope you liked it and see you next time! Next chapter we'll see more of Lucy and Juvi-chan poking through Juvia's mind, as well as what the rest of Fairy Tail is up to back at the guild.