Welcome to my new story, One year changes everything!

Now for any new readers looking into this, to understand everything you will have to read 'The Elemental Dragon Slayer' and 'A Dragon's Way', but you can also read it like this if you want to. For any reoccurring readers that have been following me and my stories remember that this is an alternative of what could have happened at the end of 'A Dragon's Way'. 'The Dragon Hunt' will not have happened at all. Like I said earlier this will be a What if story but it will be fun!

The first few chapters will be following the manga a little with a few small changes but after a few chapters we'll go my direction.

Now without any further ado... Have fun!

Lucy yawned as she woke up from the morning sun shining through the window. Slowly she rose up, stretching out her arms. "Ugh… morning already?" She muttered rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

She sighed looking out the window that was right beside her bed. Looking outside she noticed the people already walking through town, starting their lives. Smiling softly she got out of bed and started getting herself ready as well.

It was always the usual. Taking a quick shower, brushing teeth, get dressed, get her hair done and then head out. Now Lucy stood in front of her mirror putting her hair together. She sighed lowering her arms and looked at herself in the mirror.

Then she smiled and nodded her head. "I'm going to make today a great day as well!" She said before turning around, grabbing her purse and heading outside.

With a huge smile she walked through the streets heading towards a huge building in the back of town. It was the arena where she and her teammates had competed during the Grand Magic Games.

Yes, she was in Crocus, the capital of Fiore.

She passed people, trying to get to the arena. The streets were crowded and it was hard to get through. For some reason there were a lot of people in Crocus, which was saying something already.

Lucy was pushed to the side and out of the crowd. She was relieved but she had to go through it to get to the arena. She sighed, turning around looking at the shop. Her heart slightly dropped seeing what kind of store it was.

It was a book store and in the front was a set of Sorcerer Weekly magazines, one having a picture of the entire team on the front page. She stopped and looked at it, several emotions running through her.

It's been a year… an entire year since she saw any of them… Natsu… Gray… Kera… Erza… A silent tear fell down her face.

After… after the fight with Tartarus they thought they could rebuild again, to go on… but it seemed that in one night everything went wrong.

Everyone just… disappeared.

It was the night when they found out that Zeref was related to Kera, that he was her great grandfather. That day, after she and her friends looked through the rubble of their guild they heard from Makarov that he wouldn't rebuild the guild. He told them that Fairy Tail was disbanded.

That had hurt a lot. So she went back to the temporary sheds that they had built to collect her thoughts, but that's when she saw a note on her bed. She could still remember the words that were written on it.

Happy and I are leaving to train so we can get stronger and protect our friends. We'll be back in a year or so.

Lucy wiped the tear away from her face. She had tried to run after them, but Natsu and Happy were long gone. She then tried to find Gray to see if he had known where Natsu had went…

Unfortunately he and Juvia were gone as well. They were nowhere to be seen. She had asked Erza but neither had she seen either one of them. She was glad that the red head was still there, at least she still had one person.

That night she remembered that she also hadn't seen Kera. Fear filled her and she went to look for her.

All night…

She hadn't found her anywhere. She had asked Kayeleth, who was still recovering, but neither she knew where she had gone. That only worried her more. Then she tried searching for Erza again, hoping that she knew where the brunette was…

Yet she hadn't found her either.

That's when she realized that everyone left… and she was alone.

Lucy took a deep breath, looking away from the store window. After realizing that all of her friends had left, she decided to leave herself. That's when she found herself in Crocus.

Looking down at her watch she almost paled. "Crap! I'm running late!" With that she quickly turned around dashing down the road, squishing herself through the crowd of people.

At the arena, the place was alive and screaming people were heard. They were cheering, yelling and jeering at something. Inside the arena stood two men facing each other while also grinning.

"And we're entering the fourth day of the Grand Magic Games! And today's battles are looking hot!" The announcer shouted through the microphone. He was standing as he too was excited for this battle.

"The man that has never failed to show us his overwhelming powers, the Dullahan-Head Chrisaac!" This caused the arena to burst out into cheers. The man raised his hand in the air, causing the people to cheer even louder.

"Versus the Dwarfgear Berrick! Now this looks like an exciting match!" The man shouted again through his microphone. All of the people were cheering, definitely excited for the fight that was about to come.

Up in the seats of the spectators the all famous reporter Jason was standing there freaking out as always. "Cool! Cool! Cool!" He shouted pumping his fists. "I can feel it, this battle will make an incredible article!"

"Sorry I'm late!"

Jason turned around and saw Lucy running towards him with a smile. "The crowd out there in town was crazy! I almost couldn't get through!"

"Lucy!" Jason called out while pointing to her. "You're looking cool as always! How's my favorite girl doing?"

The blonde smiled softly. Except being painfully reminded of what happened a year ago it wasn't actually bad. She smiled. "I'm great, has the battle started yet?"

"It's about to start. But I think Chrisaac is going to wipe the floor with the other guy. He's just too strong!" Jason stated turning his attention back to the fight in front of him, that was about to begin.

"Alright!" Lucy shouted grabbing a pen and a pad out of her purse. "Time to get us a scoop!"

It's been a year since her friends all disappeared and she decided to head out to Crocus to get a job. Since then she'd been working… well more like interning… at the Sorcerer Weekly as an editor.

Everyone had moved on, took their own path, so she had to move on as well. So she decided to follow her dream. To try and become a writer. Yet it didn't go so well at first.

She had met Jason and he had taken her in as an underwear model. He had been excited about it but then she has asked him if she could write and would hire her…

And that's where she was now.

Walking out of the arena she tightened her grip on her bag. Jason was right beside her looking up into the sky. "The Grand Magic Games just aren't… that exciting this year. Well… it was suspected without Lamia Scale, Sabertooth or Mermaid Heel being in the competition."

Lucy nodded softly. "Yea, not even Blue Pegasus or Quatro Puppy."

"Or Fairy Tail." Jason said with a smirk while giving the blonde a short glance.

The blonde chuckled. "Yes, but the guild doesn't exist anymore." She stated.

Jason glanced at her hand. "Then what about your mark?" He asked.

Lucy glanced at her hand and saw that he meant the Fairy Tail symbol. She didn't remove it when they disbanded, because she couldn't.

Jason sighed as he turned around. "Well it's a shame that it's over." He said waving her goodbye. Lucy just stood there hanging her head, thinking about what he had just said.

Back at her apartment, Lucy sat at her desk writing out the next article for Sorcerer Weekly. After finishing her article she set the quill down and leaned back. Thinking about what Jason had said she started to remember the past year.

Unfortunately she couldn't keep in touch with any of her friends or guild mates. Her close friends were gone, she had no idea where they were so she couldn't get in contact with any of them. Which she hated. Sometimes she felt so lonely.

She really wanted to see her friends again, but they were all on their own path. She didn't want to disturb them, they had their own life now… so why should she…

Lucy had gone to the bathroom and entered her tub. She started washing herself but then stopped when she was done, ready to get out.

It would be a lie if she said that she didn't want to see her friends again. They were the best thing that happened to her. Sighing she got out of the bathtub and grabbed herself a towel. She started drying herself as she walked out of the bathroom.

Drying her hair with it she walked into her living room. That's another reason why she became a reporter.

To gather information on everyone that went their own way.

Sightings…

Rumors…

Anything…

Lucy stood in front of her wall that was covered with a huge map of Fiore and several papers stuck on it. There were even pictures of some of her friends hanging against the wall. She's been searching for everyone for the past year, so that they could come together again.

She sighed as she looked at the wall. "Still nothing on Happy and Natsu… or Kera…"

Lucy hit her head against the wall, her expression growing somber. If only everyone could come back… Tears started to come up and she gritted her teeth. She slid down the wall and hugged her knees.

She put a hand against her face, the tears falling freely down her face. I just want to see my friends again…

The next morning Lucy got up from her bed the same way she did every other day, the same routine every day for the last several months. She got herself ready, grabbed her stuff and head out to the arena.

It was the fifth day, the last day of the Grand Magic Games and she wanted to be there on time today.

So now she was standing in the stands again watching the fight in front of her… well not really watching, her mind was still on her friends. Why was she thinking about them so much now? Of course she never really forgot them or something, they were always on her mind.

"Lucy? Are you okay?"

Lucy was snapped out of her thoughts by Jason who was waving his hand in front of her. She blinked and looked at him. "Huh? Oh sorry, I was… thinking…"

Jason smiled at her but then patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry Lucy, so who do you think is going to win? Skull Millione or Dullahanhead?" He asked.

She rubbed her forehead and sighed. "Um… I would say Skull Millione. They're members are definitely stronger."

The writer looked at her confused. Lucy just stood there leaning her head in her hands while her elbows rested against the edge. "Of course Dullahanhead is strong, just Skull Millione is hiding it, probably because they're in it for the money. They don't really care about being number one."

He was confused but was shocked when he saw the battle end. Indeed Skull Millione had won just as Lucy predicted. "No way!" He shouted. "This is so cool! It's just like you predicted."

Lucy sighed. "Yea… they're strong, but to call them Fiore's number one…"

Her eyes went down to the arena and saw a person wearing a cloak walking in through the gates. She blinked a little confused. What was he doing in the arena?

"What's happening?" the announcer called, pointing out what most of them were thinking. "There's a very fishy guy in the ring."

One of the members glared at the man in the ring. "Who the hell are you?"

Lucy looked down at the person and her eyes went wide. "This feeling…" she muttered.

Out of nowhere a huge heat wave radiated from the guy hitting everyone in the arena, even Lucy was surprised by that.

The guys in the ring were shocked as well, but didn't let it show. The leader of the group took a step forward towards the mysterious person. "Who the hell are you?"

The mysterious man snorted. "So you're Fiore's number one?" He asked.

"Again, who the hell are you?" Another member asked.

The cloaked man smirked. "I'm…" He pulled his fist back before thrusting it forward. "A challenger!" A loud blast of fire hit the group of members and the arena exploded up into flames.

Everyone in the arena was shocked. The heat from the man's attack was melting everything! Lucy looked down at herself and squealed. Even her clothes were melting! "Who is this guy!?" She shouted trying to cover herself.

She looked down into the arena noticing that the hood had fallen down from the man. Her eyes went wide when she realized who the person was. "NATSU!?" She shouted shocked.

"Hi Lucy! It's been a while!" A voice said from behind.

The blonde looked behind her and saw a very familiar blue cat flying behind her. "Happy!?"

The cat smiled as he crossed his arms. "Natsu really wanted to see the fight here, but I guess they're all out of commission." He said motioning to the downed people in the arena. Natsu had beaten them all with just one hit.

Natsu turned his head towards the stands and noticed Lucy. He blinked, but then grinned. "Jo Lucy! It's been a while!"

Lucy smiled softly. Seeing Natsu standing in the arena, even if he was destroying everything as usual, a small voice in her head told her…

That Fairy Tail wasn't done yet.

It's just the start, but I hope you all enjoyed it so far. Not much action yet but it will get better I promise! So with that said I welcome you all to this new story and I hope you'll all stay! As usual don't forget to leave a review!

Until next time!