Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)

Chapter 1: Rejection, Manipulation, and Vacation

Lucy sat alone at a table in the Fairy Tail guild, eating a chocolate cake with strawberries on it, and she sighed a bit while noticing that almost nobody in the guild had been speaking to her at all. They hadn't even talked to her ever since Lisanna Strauss came back from Edolas all those years ago, and the guild members had seemed like they were hiding some kind of secret from her.

Ever since Lisanna's return, everyone had been ignoring Lucy like she didn't even exist. The only people who would talk to her were Wendy, Carla, Gajeel, Lily, Levy, and Master. They noticed that she was still around, but those people were gone now. Gajeel and Lily were training up in the mountains, Levy was on a mission with Team Shadowgear, and Wendy was out on a job with Carla. This meant that Lucy was left alone for a while, causing her to be a bit depressed.

She had to take many dangerous solo missions to pay her rent of 70,000 jewels and buy groceries, which was not easy. Every time she came back from a mission, Lucy would have cuts and bruises from the harsh jobs. Wendy would always heal her injuries, but Lucy was tired of going on such deadly jobs. She wished that Natsu and the others were there to back her up, but they weren't.

Right now, they seemed to be discussing something important with Lisanna. Team Natsu hadn't been taking any jobs because they were too busy listening to Lisanna's stories about her time in the world of Edolas. Their laziness really irritated Lucy, but she would never show any negative emotions towards them. After all, Lisanna was on the team before she was there with Natsu.

Upon seeing the fire dragon slayer smirk while motioning with his left hand for her to come over to the table where the group of five (Plus Happy, who was sitting on the center of the table) had been situated, Lucy got up with a small smile and walked over there with optimism in her brown eyes. She always had a crush on Natsu, blushing when he would sneak into her bed while his heat warmed her up, and his fiery attitude on missions was really appealing to the stellar mage. Right now, a warm feeling found its way into her chest since Natsu's smile meant that he always said what he thought was a positive statement.

"Lucy, I have the greatest news ever! Lisanna wants our group to go on jobs together just like old times! This is so great!" Natsu told her with a happy grin on his face while laughing excitedly.

"Natsu, that's great! It would be nice to have more people in the group when we go out on jobs." Lucy replied with a happy smile on her face while looking at Natsu, before turning to Lisanna with a cheerful smile.

The fire dragon slayer kindly explained, knowing that Lucy misunderstood him, "Luce, that's not what I meant. Lisanna wants her spot back on Team Natsu, so we have to oust you. You're just really weak, and your fighting skills really suck. You also get caught by monsters on missions, and I always have to end up saving you because you can't do anything yourself."

At that moment, Gray and Erza respectively punched and kicked Natsu in the face for being so blunt with his reasons for wanting Lisanna on the team. They knew that Lucy was a very sensitive person, and it would only hurt worse if Natsu's explanation had gotten to the point where he admitted that he was in love with Lisanna because of her angelic appearance and slashing skills. They didn't want to hurt Lucy even worse, since she was fragile.

"Lucy, wait!" Gray shouted while looking concerned, as he saw her run up to the guild's second floor, only to be stopped by Erza since she knew that sympathetic words could only make the feeling of being replaced become far worse than it already was.

Lucy had run up to the second floor where Master Makarov's office was located, and the door was directly to the left of the staircase for no one to miss it. Lucy was trying to hold back her tears from hearing those words come out of the mouth of the guy she had really liked, and she couldn't believe that he had indirectly called her unreliable. She may have relied on her keys, but it wasn't her fault that she loved her spirits.

Wiping away her tears and slowly opening the door to Master's office, Lucy put on her best smile to not cause any alarm. She just wanted to leave quietly without anymore drama occurring, and the blonde mage really had to make up a good reason for wanting to leave. After all, she really didn't want to seem like a quivering and sad puppy that was weak.

"Master Makarov, I want to take a vacation for a while." She explained nicely while smiling a bit, as she opened his door to see him sitting at his desk while putting a folder of papers in a desk drawer.

"Really, my child? If you don't mind me asking, how long will you be gone?" He asked kindly, knowing she was one of the children of his guild.

"It might be a few months, or maybe it might be a few years. I just want some time away from the guild to clear my head and think about some things, but I'll still keep my guild mark." Lucy told him with a small smile on her face, trying her best to hide her sadness.

"If that's the case, then I understand your reasons for wanting to take some time off. Vacationing is important at times, and you may take a few jobs from the request board to assist yourself with gathering money." Master replied calmly, folding his arms while smiling a bit.

Lucy walked towards his desk, and she extended her right arm outward for him to see the pink guild mark on the back of her right hand. He rubbed her hand gently, and Lucy's brown eyes caught sight of her Fairy Tail insignia still staying on her hand while it glowed a bit. She thanked Master Makarov for everything that Fairy Tail had done for her up until now, but she certainly wouldn't mention what Natsu had said like it was something for her to be happy about.

As she left his office and walked down the stairs to the first floor of the Fairy Tail guild, Lucy's brown eyes widened in pure shock from the sight of Natsu kissing Lisanna while they stood in the center of the guild. She felt her heart be pounded down on by a crashing wave of rejection and deception, since Natsu never even mentioned that he loved Lisanna. Had he been hiding this little secret from her, thinking he could lead her on with flirtatious remarks like he had done in the past while he was dating Lisanna?

She wasn't going to let herself be cheated on by Natsu, and the way he kicked her off the team with his typical denseness made Lucy sniffle a bit while some tears fell to the floor. She couldn't believe that Natsu had thought she was merely a weakling, and Lucy cried a bit while running past the kissing duo with her hands over her sad face. She was now going to leave Fairy Tail, and leaving Natsu was the best thing for her to do.

Not knowing where she would be going for her "vacation" was certainly a troubling thing, but Lucy hadn't even been across most of Fiore yet. There were many unexplored places, many towns that she hadn't seen, and she immediately had the plan of going back to her apartment to check the mailbox that contained quite a collection of the travel brochures that she had ignored.

Of course, if this was a vacation, Lucy could just take her Celestial Spirit Keys with her and not use them. After all, she would probably only need Aquarius and Loke if she had the crazy idea of trying to surf waves at the beach without any real experience at the tough sport that involved surfing tough waves. Besides, she also wouldn't be going away by boat with the risk of sailing into rough waters.

Not only that, but Natsu's words about her being weak were beginning to resonate in her head. She clenched her fists tightly, ashamed that she always had to watch from the background and rely on others, but how could she possibly improve herself? Lucy herself had told Master Makarov that her vacation would last for a few months or even a few years, and he gave her the opportunity to join any other guild to start fresh and take her mind off of Natsu.

However, unknown to Lucy, the fire dragon slayer hadn't exactly reached that decision with any actual bad intentions in mind for the blonde mage. He had been blushing while Lisanna wrapped her arms around his neck, and she wrapped her arms around his waist. These two really were a couple, and Mirajane seemed very happy that her younger sister had now found a boyfriend to make her love life good. Of course, being the older sister and Fairy Tail's matchmaker, Mira would definitely be asking for details on their relationship.

Natsu asked Lisanna while he broke the kiss, smiling a bit while scratching the back of his head, "Hey, Lisanna. Are you sure that Lucy will hate me for just giving you a little lesson on kissing? This first kiss is just between us, and we could become something more while we work together."

The white-haired mage replied with an innocent-looking face, having regret in her blue eyes from what she was going to say, "Natsu, Lucy loves you just as much as I do. Erza told me how Lucy has a crush on you, but you never noticed it. I love you so much for being a great guy, and I'll try my best to give her a good apology when we can find time to talk."

Natsu looked a bit shocked from hearing that Lucy had been harboring some sweet feelings for him, but he only liked her as a friend. She honestly didn't have all the qualities that the fire dragon slayer wanted in a woman, and he preferred to be with Lisanna because of how considerate and powerful she was. He had also known Lisanna for a much longer period of time, and Natsu wanted to rekindle what was once a tiny childish flame and turn it into a grown blaze of love.

While the newly formed couple looked happy about the different goals they had for any tension to not be in their relationship, Lucy gave them a saddened facial expression while she walked out of Fairy Tail's entrance doors and wondered what destiny had in store for her. She wanted to become stronger on this journey of hers, but she had to decide where to go.

How was the 1st chapter? Did you like it? This is my newest story, and any kind of criticism is really appreciated. Let me know your thoughts on "She Will Be Loved."