The first thing Lucy realized was that the temperature in the air surrounding her was totally different. It was very warm, as though there was a fire nearby. She stirred in her sleep, trying to pry her eyes open to reveal her location. But her body denied her plead. She was still very tired. What had happened?

'Lucy!'

Lucy got a full flashback of what had happened. 'Oh, yeah… I fell'. The impart she received, she should have received a stinging pain and in the end die. Then, why is she still alive? She also realized that her body was in a seated position. She was lying against something, and her body was in NO pain at all. Why? And how? 'Just go to sleep, I can get up later to try and find them'. Giving in, she decided to continue her slumber.

Suddenly, she heard a few rustles in what seemed to be bushes or leaves. Who was it?

Cana?

Loke?

Gray?

She wasn't sure. Through her calculations, no one should survive a fall like that unless that particular person was Natsu, Erza, Master or Gray. She then waited for the sound to increase. She waited for a voice to shout her name, yet it never came. It wasn't one of her comrades, then.

Perhaps it wasn't human, a part of her mind screamed at her. That could be correct. She then heard it again, this time louder. It was getting closer. 'Maybe it's just an animal?' She denied that fact. She remembered clearly that everything around her was dead when she fell into the pit. An animal wasn't one of her guesses. 'A monster?'

She shivered inwardly. She then heard another sound.

A footstep.

A human footstep.

She wanted to open her eyes, find out who was so that she could put on her guard just in case it was an enemy. But since she couldn't, Lucy was already feeling goose bumps were getting louder. And after each step, Lucy's worry increased. She just couldn't ease up.

Suddenly, the footsteps had stopped. And she knew that whoever this person was, he/she was standing right in front of her. She could feel his/her shadow from her closed eye-lids.

"I know you're awake"

It was a man, but he sounded so… weak and soulless; like he was as dead as a ghost. He sounded tired and strained as well, Lucy just didn't understand.

"If you're wondering why you can't wake up, it's because I placed a sleeping spell on you. Only I can decide whether you've had enough rest" Lucy's heard of those kinds of spells, but they were usually used to torture and rape women. That meant one thing; this man was a mage who used dark magic. And that was never good.

'How did he get on the island? And why?' She began to wonder. She wanted to open her eyes and summon someone like Taurus or Sagittarius.

She felt his body being seated on the ground in front of her. It was weird; he was being awfully comfortable with her. As though he had known her forever. She suddenly stiffened when she felt her pouch which contained her keys was taken away from her. She heard them clinking together and it made such an annoying noise. She hoped that they weren't damaged in any way- and she hoped that Aquarius would have mercy on her.

"You have many keys; Aquarius, Sagittarius, Cancer, Virgo. My, that's a lot of keys you have here, Miss" He stated formally. It's very odd how he was very kind to her. She couldn't understand his way of thinking. He seemed very humble with her.

Suddenly, he sighed.

"I think it might be time to wake you up, but please calm yourself once awake" He pleaded softly before placing his palm on her forehead. Lucy decided to agree, but she had to be careful with this man. He wasn't from Fairy Tail. He might be an enemy.

He mumbled a few words that were foreign to her, and soon enough, she felt a weight being pulled off her chest. Her eyes snapped open to find a black haired man frowning slightly at her. His eyes were as dark as night, his skin was as pale as snow and his expression showed nothing but sadness. Lucy stared at the strange man for a while before pushing herself up to sit properly. Her back was aching from that uncomfortable tree. She kept quiet, analyzing her surroundings. Everything around her wasn't as dead as before. She and the stranger were under a bug tree. It seemed to be the big three that held up Tenroujima Island.

The stranger took several steps back, still frowning at her. It was as though he was afraid of her. Or afraid I might tell someone about his presence.

"Wait!" She yelped when she realized he was about to leave. He turned around to face her, this time with a confused expression. "Where are you going?" She asked, standing up and getting on her feet. She wondered, what was with this man. She could sense powerful magic from him. Who was this powerful wizard and why was he here on this island?

His gaze softened on her as he relaxed his shoulders. "I thought you might want to something to eat when you wake up, so.." He paused pulling something out from behind a nearby bush. Food.

"I got you some" The tray was full of colorful fruits. Lucy was unconsciously drooling for it. Oh boy, she was hungry. After that fall, she realized that she was really hungry. The fall! Her eyes darted down to her body to find a few scratches here and there, but they didn't sting or ache. As the stranger made way to her slowly, Lucy raised her head to smile slightly at him. That caught him by surprise, causing him to halt his movements.

"Thank you. You healed me, didn't you?" Her eyes revealed nothing but sincere happiness and gratitude. He frowned again. Why does he keep frowning? He continued to move towards her and sat with her as she ate the delicious fruits.

"You shouldn't thank me" He stated coldly. Her head snapped to look at him, and all she saw was sadness again. "You don't know what I've done. Who knows, maybe I've killed so many people. And yet, here you are thanking me" He lowered his head.

She followed his actions. His speech was so, sad. But, why did he have to kill the happiness? She giggled softly. The poor guy, maybe he just doesn't realize he's a good guy. "You know, you're actually a good guy. You don't even know me, yet you still save me. I'm sorry for wasting your time, but I really appreciate the hard work. You even healed me" He raised his head to stare at her in surprise. Yet, she continued to praise him. "So, it doesn't really matter if you've done bad things in the past. What matters, is that you've changed for the greater good"

He stared at her as though she was the weirdest thing in the world. Eyes full of surprise, even his lips were twitching to smile. In the end, he gave her a small smile. It's been a while since he's smiled without crying.

"My name's Lucy Heartfilia and you are?" She grinned when she realized that he'd opened up to her, slightly. Not much progress, but good. Lucy could tell this man was good. Actually, he seemed more like a lost little boy. A little boy who was alone in this world, and was adorably innocent.

"Zeref"