A/N: In the original Fairy Tail storyline, Lucy is about seventeen. This is when they're all a little bit older, say around early-mid twenties, maybe. AU.

Summary: Lucy just wanted to explore what the humans explored, what they felt, what they experienced, what they were. She wanted to see Earth at a closer angle, the firsthand experience. She thought it was smooth landscape, green grass, pretty flowers, sparkling water that sustained no definite shape, and six senses of being a human surrounded by such beauty. However, she wasn't expecting it to be anything like it really was.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

Our Gravitational Pull

"Lucy-sama, are you observing the humans again?" Virgo asked, curtsying slightly as she entered the room. Lucy, with stars in her brown eyes – literally – nodded eagerly as she took everything in. Her room was the galaxy, and she controlled all that resided within it. She turned her head for a moment to look back at Virgo, in her usual petite figure fit into a maid outfit, before looking back down at the small planet Earth that resided in her palm. Lightly touching it with her fingertip, she zoomed into a point on the earth, a land called Fiore.

There, the humans carried what they called magic, but she couldn't explain what it really was. She wasn't all knowing, like the master of time, but she knew that magic was an endless source of power the humans relied on. To explain it in the simplest of ways, the power of the stars are sometimes too much for it to be contained in that star itself, and doesn't explain. It overflows, and trickles down to fill up the other spaces of the galaxy. Sometimes, it comes together and forms a new star, but most of the time, it gets sucked into the nearest gravitational pull and comes in all different forms of powerful forces. On Earth, they call it magic. The stars power trickled onto Earth for eons until they supposedly had a vast, limitless amount of power they call 'magic.'

However, besides doing their job, most of the elders steer clear of Earth. The elders are those as old as time that has been carrying out the duties of what the Creator assigned for them. Like "Father Time," for example, makes sure that time runs smoothly and swiftly without ever stopping. He isn't a big fan of humans, as they are always what he called self-centered, and think time stops and goes on their accord, instead of his. The reason the elders stay away from Earth as much as possible, is because they are savage, and barbaric beasts that know nothing other then to fight and kill their own kind.

Lucy, the Princess of the celestial world, does not think that way of humans. Youngest of the elders, she is known for her kind heart and adventurous nature, however the elders think she is too immature and flamboyant as well. She is inexperienced, and has spent most of her time in the galaxy observing instead of experiencing. She would have loved to be able to explore to her hearts content, but the elders forbade her from doing so. They were allowed to assist and guide the humans, but it was their choice and decision for what they do with their help, either take it or leave it. At the same time, they weren't allowed to associate or interact with the humans. It was disrupt the order and balance they've dedicated their entire existence into managing.

Lucy sighed dreamily as she stared at the landscape, the way their flowers bloomed with the right enough care, the water flowed with just enough ripples, the sand blew with just enough grace; and then the humans. They were the most interesting bunch of them all. They were unpredictable, felt things that were foreign to Lucy's comprehension. She knew of their 'emotions,' but never experienced them firsthand. The humans were full of mysteries, which were all the more fuel to her determination of wanting to study and be apart of their 'world,' as they narrowed themselves into. There were many worlds and dimensions in the galaxy, which Lucy was all too familiar with, and governs.

"If only…" Lucy whispered to herself, not minding that Virgo was doing as she pleased, brushing through Lucy's long hair that flew gently at different angles where small forces of gravity pulled her locks. After she finished her task, Virgo stood and stared down at her silently, until Lucy finally gave up with a sigh. "Yes, Virgo?"

"Maybe it would be wise to entertain yourself with something else, instead of staring at the humans all the time, princess. The more you stare at them, the more you'll want to chide your duties and become one of them," Virgo advised, before suddenly going on her hands and knees. "Please excuse my bluntness, princess. Please punish me as you wish." Lucy shook her head, already used to Virgo's behavior, and let it slide.

"Wait…" Lucy suddenly whispered to herself, her eyes widening as she caught on to something Virgo said. "Become one of them? I never thought of that before. Can I… really become one of them?" Lucy questions in a soft voice, her tone full of excitement and wonder, and Virgo was inwardly kicking herself.

"Please remove my mouth, princess, I don't deserve to utter another word for as long as I exist," Virgo begged in her same even tone. Lucy waved her words away, the motion making her hair fly out and stretch even more.

"I can become one of them, why not? I am an elder; after all, it is within my power. Why haven't I ever thought of this before myself? I will have to keep this from the elders, of course, and somehow be able to judge life as a human and as the celestial princess. I'll let my spirits in on this so they could guide me. That includes you, Virgo," Lucy planned to herself out loud, informing Virgo of her newfound responsibility, as she paced around her room. "Leo!" she called, tapping her fingertip over his constellation, which in turn made him reappear in a more fitting form. Leo stood tall next to Lucy, his hair spiked and his shakes on, even if the sun was a mere few inches compared to their mass existence.

"Yes, my lady?" Leo bowed, offering Lucy a charming smile, which was quickly wiped away with the princess's nest words.

"I'm going to be human."

"… Virgo, did you accidentally dig a hole in Princess Lucy's head?" Leo demanded, narrowing his eyes back at the amaranth haired maid.

"Please punish me accordingly," Virgo replied, bowing down to Leo.

"Ok, look, stop. Firstly, Virgo, stop asking to be punished for something you obviously didn't do. Secondly, Leo, I'm completely fine, really. It's just…" Lucy trailed off, looking down at the small circle of the Earth. She bent down next to it and lightly stroked it, before tapping with her finger to showoff the beauty of the world, staring longingly at it.

"This is treason," Leo pushed on, getting straight to the point. Out of all the celestial spirits, Leo was her one companion she couldn't live without, and his opinions and intake of an important decision like this was not only crucial to Lucy, it would determine if her resolve was great enough or not.

"I think it's worth it," Lucy pleaded n a gently tone, her eyes imploring him. Leo could already see that Lucy was fixated on this decision, but she was also not thinking of the consequences of what this could bring with it. "You've all been there before, interacted with the humans firsthand. I just want that too."

"The humans think nothing of us, unlike you, princess. You love, cherish, and care for our existence. They do not; they see us as tools to fight with, to do their bidding with, as if we are their slaves. You just don't understand how… vicious of a species they are," Leo tried again, but she wasn't having any of it.

"But they can be compassionate, sympathetic, and creative at the same time. They are a small race, but they have so much potential in them as well. Please, please, please, Leo. Is there any way that I can be human, even if just for a while?" Hesitant, Leo took a step back away from her, staring down at the miniature sphere that has captivated his princess to the point of obsession. She wasn't going to stop until she had her way, so why not use it to his advantage? It was for her best, in the end. That's all his intentions were, always for his princess.

"A celestial spirit can't live for long on Earth, at most of any of them would be a few days. I've gone a few months, which is as much as you'd be able to handle, if you were to pose as a human on Earth…" Leo grudgingly began, getting Lucy's hopes up.

"So I can stay on Earth for what they call 'months'?"

"On. One. Condition," he enunciated through ground teeth, trying to get past her starry eyed gaze. "After your few months on Earth, you will return back home, and you will never to return to Earth ever again. If it's a few months, the elders will not know of this, and it will stay amongst only us. We will protect you while you're on Earth, however, our powers are only limited-" Leo tried to explain, but was cut off as Lucy tackled him in a hug, shaking the galaxy a bit, maybe causing a Mars-quake, or Saturn-quake.

"Thank you," Lucy continuously chanted, and Leo sighed at this, but smiled nonetheless.

'Anything for you, my princess.'

"So, how do I look guys? Like a human? Please don't say like a troll. That's right, Aquarius, I'm looking at you. I think Cancer did a pretty amazing job with my new look," Lucy rambled a bit, nervousness taking over, as she modeled a bit.

"You're always beautiful, Lucy-chan, moo!" Taurus complimented, his nostrils flaring a bit from his excitement and arousal at her new appearance. Cancer tilted his head a bit, examining the princess, and was proud of his handiwork. Her long golden hair was cut to just below her shoulders, the right side bunched up and tied with a red ribbon. She wore a red collar shirt that didn't really leave much to the imagination; as it covered her voluptuous bosom, tied just below with a black ribbon to keep it together, and then cut down in the center to reveal her navel. She wore jean shorts, showing off her legs, and ended it with black boots.

"Is this the kind of fashions humans usually wear?" Lucy questioned, feeling giddy from her new look.

"Totally," Scorpio said enthusiastically, his arm around Aquarius's waist.

"You'll be needing this," Capricorn suddenly interrupted the modeling show, coming forth and handing over a set of keys to Lucy. She took them graciously, examining each of them. "Aquarius, Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Sagittarius, Leo, Aries, Scorpio, Gemini, Crux, Horologium, Lyra, Nikora, Pyxis, and myself are all here. If you're ever in a pitch or need our assistance in any way, don't hesitate to summon us, princess," Capricorn informed, watching as Lucy carefully fingered the keys, holding them as if they were a precious treasure to her.

"Thank you…" she breathed out, genuinely gratefully. "Thank you, everyone," she clarified, offering all of them a smile, as she nodded to herself, turning toward the sphere of Earth. "Here goes nothing… and everything…" Bending down to the Earth, she smiled to herself at the sight of it, mentally prepping herself for being apart of it soon herself. She lightly touched on the surface, already knowing where she wanted to go. "Fiore…" She lightly trailed her fingertip over the country landscape, wondering where to stop by at, until Capricorn guided her finger to a specific place. It was a plain on the outskirts of a town called Magnolia.

"Right there, it'll get you started on your journey," Capricorn lied between his teeth, not showing any emotions. However, Lucy, on a rush of adrenaline, didn't quite catch it, and smiled at him.

"Thank you," she said, before kissing her fingertip, before pressing the pad of her finger to the spot. Instantly, her body became lighter, and turned to fragments of stars, swirling together, as she transported herself onto the planet Earth.

"Where'd you send her, Moshi Moshi?" Sagittarius asked with a salute.

"Some place where she'd quickly learn that she should have stayed here instead of going down to that retched world," Capricorn answered, shaking his head guiltily.

"I'm sorry," Aries apologized, even if it wasn't her fault or idea, or even her doing.

"She'll be fine, she'll call us whenever she is in need of our assistance. Plus, I am allowed free access from Earth and the spirit world. I'll lay my life to protect the princess from harms way," Leo declared, patting the vibrating Nikora's head.

"If anything happens, I'll take responsibility, and accept any form of punishment," Virgo complied.

"That's what she said," Horologium added.

Lucy didn't know how long she had been lying there, but her body ached, and the rocks were digging into her flesh. She tried to move, but the intense sudden pull of the gravity was weighing her down. She needed to get used to being in a human body on Earth before she could even think about moving, however, she wasn't in the type of luxury to do so, for she was thrown into the middle of a war raging on the plains of the outskirts of Magnolia. And Earth war, between humans, fighting for trivial and insignificant matters like land and power.

She lifted her head slightly, trying to be able to see what was going on around her. She expected waterfalls, green grass lands, flowers blooming by the sun's command. However, that wasn't the case. Speaking of the sun, she never realized just how severe the glare of its ray was.

Around her, she saw death, and agony, and decay. The ground was not green, the sky wasn't blue – but gray, the trees were torn from its trunk, bodies littered around – which looked to be soldiers. Some tried to medicate and save the injured, bless their souls, but they obviously didn't have much time left. It looked to be magic-bearers against men in silver clothing with weapons, and they charged at the magical individuals headfirst, only to meet their demise.

She was starting to get used to the gravity, bit by bit, as she tried to push herself up more. However, with her eye-catching hair, vulnerable position, and lively eyes, she was bound to gain some attention. One of the soldiers spotted her, sprawled on the floor, but unharmed. Pulling his arm back, he clutched his spear tightly, and glided it into the air, aimed right at Lucy. With her powers and body still in shock and trying to adjust to the Earth, her reflexes were slow, and did not pinpoint the spear fast enough to dodge it. It lodged into his exposed thigh, making Lucy experience her first real human emotion. Pain.

It was like the sun collided into her thigh, flaring up and burning her from the inside, the pain spreading all around the effected area. She felt like screaming, crying, something building up in her chest that was making it harder and harder to breath with ever breathe. She could feel Leo stirring, wanting to help her, but she did not summon him. He was to be a bystander, for the time being, as she tried to reel her mind back down to Earth. She clawed at the ground beneath her, trying as hard as she could to get a hold of herself, pushing with all her might to get up. As she raised her head more, finally getting a hold of herself, she looked up to see a soldier hovering over her, sword drawn and raised high above her.

"Summon me already!" Leo shouted in a far away part of her mind, but she was paralyzed, frozen from fear, and reality. The situation was so real, and happening, to the point that she couldn't believe it. What had she gotten herself into? As he brought his sword down to slash through her, she tensed her muscled, bracing for the impact, but she didn't close her eyes. She needed to see how it all happened, and absorb as much as she could till the very end.

Yet, the blade never made contact with her. A flash of red passed through Lucy's gaze, and before she knew it, another man had joined the party, grabbing the blade before it could touch Lucy. Her eyes stayed on his hand, oozing red liquid; inwardly cringing at the pain he must have been feeling. She didn't see her own wound, overwhelmed by her own pain, so she could only imagine how much of the red ooze seeped out of her body. Trailing her gaze up from his muscular arm, she spotted a white scaly fashioned scarf, a tuff of pink hair, and an expression full of so much passion that she was suddenly overcome with a new wave of emotions. All of it being so new to Lucy, she couldn't pinpoint it to what exactly.

The man wasn't even a man; he was half beast as well. He roared, with so much animalistic nature pouring out, his bloodlust apparent. His bloodied fist suddenly caught on fire, and Lucy's first guess was that he was in more pain, but she felt that the fire was from his own source. He possessed the magic of fire, one of the most primitive things she'd ever witnessed. The fire engulfed the sword, and the soldier looked up, stricken at the fire magic-bearer, scared out of his wits. The animal suddenly let a slow smile spread across his lips, as if he was enjoying putting down his prey, and began sucking in a large gulp of breath.

"Fire Dragon's…" he inaugurated, until air filled every corner of his mouth, looking bloated. "Roar!" He all too suddenly blew out an ample amount of fire into the soldier's face, melting away his helmet, and ultimately his face, and he fell to the ground before Lucy, deceased. All he left behind was his body, his soul probably joining the stars – which was her job to guide, which would have to wait for a later time, now that she was here on Earth posing as a human – and the intense odor of burning flesh. It was revolting, and tossing Lucy's stomach in turmoil, but she pushed the thought aside.

Looking up at the beast, he tilting his head in question down at Lucy, obviously not recognizing who she was, and wondering whose side she was on. She remembered in war, you had to be part of a side. There was no such thing as a neutral party; everyone had an opinion, and a place they belonged to.

She opened her mouth, in a way to thank him for saving her, but all that came out was a whimper. Looking down at her thigh, the pain suddenly crawled back over her, wrapping around her leg like a lost lover, clinging to her. The pain might have been bad, but the wound looked even worse then she felt.

"Hey, are you ok? Do you need a hand? Who are you, anyways?" the beast asked her, which caught Lucy off guard. How could such a savage beast comprehend such thing as empathy and worry over another individual? He bent down next to her, inspecting her wound, before glancing at her face. "Look away for a moment," he instructed her.

"Why?" she croaked out, her voice horse from the sheer emotion of pain. However, she still complied, looked straight at the battlefield, but not really looking at it. She's had enough of the terrors of war, and only concentrated on the beast next to her, relishing in the warmth he gave off. His none injured hand found hers, and curved over it, clutching her hand tightly in his. She looked down at it in fascination, the first time ever feeling another individual touching her. The feel of skin on skin was something she could never have imagined by looking down at Earth from the galaxy. It was a pleasant feeling, one she would like to explore more in the future with her limited time she'll have on Earth, even if it was hard to picture past this moment with this beast.

A rush of pain suddenly overcame Lucy, and having found her voice, screamed out to relieve of some of the pain. She grasped the beast's hand tightly, her nails digging into his flesh. Some warm and wet was rolling down her cheeks, but she didn't have the energy to wipe it away and examine it further. He had pulled the spear out of her thigh, and touching it, and it was only intensifying the pain. She tried to struggle out of his hold and away from him, but he held her tightly, until he was done. He rolled her on her back, and let go on her hand, trying to calm her down.

"Look, I'm just trying to stop the bleeding! I swear! Don't cry, please, it's all I can do at the moment!" the beast reasoned in a hysteric tone, looking frantic, not understanding how to handle this situation. He was as clueless as Lucy, as she lay there, staring down at his scarf wrapped around her wounded thigh, the tears not stopping. She didn't understand how this beast, which had smiled while taking the life of a man, could be frantic and unsettled by the sight of her tears. She was about to reassure him that the pain had subsided a bit, until she saw a soldier draw back his arrow, aimed at the pink haired beast.

"Leo!" she called out, clutching the key and aiming it at the soldier. Instead of coming out, Leo shot out through the key a Regulus fireball, which hit and disintegrated its target. Lucy blinded at the vanished soldier, not understanding what just happened, before looking back to the beast.

"So you are a mage? Good, I didn't think you were a soldier, since you weren't wearing any armor, but you can't be too sure, you know. I didn't want to bring a soldier back to camp to get treated," the beast proclaimed with a sigh of relief, before smiling down at her. "Can you stand?"

"Can't… feel… my legs," she wheezed out, clearing her throat, trying to get used to all the rush of what came with the human body. The beast only just smiled, as if he didn't sound like she had swallowed sandpaper, and picked her up in a princess hug. Holding her body close to his chest, she rested her head on his chest, a thought running through her mind that she could get used to this. Nuzzling herself closer to him, she felt a bit drowsy, not knowing if it was from his warmth, feeling tired from all the sudden burdens put down on her shoulders, or because she felt safe in his arms. All she knew was that she didn't want him to put her down any time soon.

"I'm Natsu Dragneel, by the way. What's your name?" the beast asked her, greeting her casually with a broad grin that took up about half his face, as if they were taking a casual stroll instead of standing in the middle of a battlefield. She glanced up at him, before offering a tired smile herself, already knowing she could trust this man who held her tightly in his protective arms.

"Lucy… Heartfilia…" she opened up to him, before her eyelids drooped, and she couldn't resist the temptation of letting sleep overcome her. She saw his smile before she closed her eyes, and felt the vibrations in his chest from his chuckling, and knew that she needed this human. This beast. It was like the gravitational pull of a planet, and she let it take her in, instead of fight against it.

As this whole occurrence took place, the loyal celestial spirits of the princess were sitting in the galaxy, watching intently as the human carried their reason for existence away.

"Love interest number one…" Scorpio whispered, but since it was so silent, everyone heard it loud and clear. It took a moment to digest, before everyone burst out in a roar of hysteria.

"Moo-what?" Taurus yelled out in horror, swinging his axe around, his eyes growing wide and his nostrils flaring angrily.

"Not if I have anything to say about it. There is no way in hell I'm going to let our princess be swept away by a mere mortal," Leo declared, his face red with fury, rolling his sleeves up for battle.