Chapter 1- Viva La Vida

In a world engulfed in magic, there should've been something a bit more mystical in the works of keeping people awake other than the cold coffee offered by the train Lucy was currently aboard. Each sip she took was merely motor function, her thoughts were muddled with exhaustion and all she could focus on was the idea of her bed.

She scoffed softly, Natsu and Happy have probably been keeping it warm while I've been gone..

Lucy's eyes glanced up, outside the window, where the night sky seemed to travel the miles with her on her journey home. It was a new moon, and in its absence, the sky seemed to be covered in thousands of beautiful stars.

She had been gone nearly 2 weeks, taking her time handling her quest. She had expose an illegal magic ring, where wizards had been betting on the likelihood of kids winning against reanimated corpses. Originally, it had been to find and recover the missing children, but their disappearance had led to a more sinister uncovering.

To Lucy, it seemed in a world where such magic existed, her work would never be done. Strangely, the thought caused her to smile. Work meant adventure, and while all of it might not be good writing material, that didn't mean it wasn't one hell of a story.

Another sigh sounded from Lucy's chest, she was exhausted yet sleep eluded her. Maybe the insomnia was spurred from some strange sense of homesickness; she had experienced a dull throb ever since she had departed from her guildhall. She knew that she missed her nakama, but her desire to accomplish herself was too strong to ignore. Lucy was tired of being the weak one out in her team, even though she knew no one regarded her as such. Perhaps it was a need to prove herself worthy of the Fairy Tail name, some twisted sense of inferiority, but for fuck sakes, she had to establish herself some day!

She loved the sense of belonging Fairy Tail offered, but things had begun to feel different after Lisanna returned. Lucy's sense of self worth seemed to return to something like it had been when she was Lady Lucy, pinned underneath her father's iron fist. Suddenly, being apart of Fairy Tail's strongest team wasn't good enough. Belonging wasn't good enough. Not to Lucy anyways. Something had changed, and she couldn't figure out what. So one day, Lucy plucked a paper from the request board and set off to fill the phantom hole in her heart.

The feeling of accomplishing something along side her stellar spirits was amazing, yet it didn't solve Lucy's problem. She took another job, and another, and another, for three months straight. She had thrown herself into a steady stream of work, and when she wasn't on a job, she was training. Dusk to dawn, she worked to build herself and her spirits, until it seemed as though she might take on Zefer himself.

Even with all the training, Lucy was restless. Nothing compared to the ache she felt, not the pain of a blow from an enemy, not the struggle to finish a run, not the heartbreak of coming home to her guild and not being able to stay. Nothing. She felt as though she had miles and miles to go until she could stop. And for what? Whatever goal was at the end, she didn't know. Her ending was clouded, masked in a kind of impenetrable smoke.

Suddenly, her fists clenched and teeth seemed to grind together. Her eyes burned no matter how many times she blinked. Lucy felt her hands move to her hair and dug her nails into her scalp to try to ease the unbearable emotions, and she felt the wetness of the blood she had drawn but no pain. She was numb, and pressed harder in an attempt to break the spell. Breathing was forgotten and her head grew foggy.

The train stopped. Her head snapped up sharply, only to cast her gaze down again. The brilliance of the sunrise had shocked her. Not because of its brightness, but of the fact she was home. How long had her muscles remained tight, frozen over by emotions? The dawn had come so soon.

Swallowing hard, she forced her body to move. Sitting up, she noticed a matrade making her rounds, awakening sleeping passengers and collecting trash such as coffee cups and discarded paper. The women passed Lucy and offered a kind smile, one she returned weakly.

Lucy stood and gathered her things, "Excuse me," She slid passed the matrade and made her way off the train.

Her feet seemed to carry her across Magnolia to her apartment, which when she opened the door, she was greeted with the subtle smell of smoke, but no Natsu, nor any of her other nakama. She thought of going down to the guildhall. Mirajane was probably up, preparing for another day of destruction. Wendy was definitely awake, that girl rose with the sun, which could be attributed to her sky dragon slayer magic.

Aside from the few early risers, Fairy Tail was bound to be empty. Lucy thought of going down and selecting another request and setting off before even the master was awake. She could be gone before anyone saw her. If she went now, she could make the train just in-

A second whiff of smoke hit her nose. She blinked and a wave of exhaustion poured over her, and it was all she could do to stand. Silently, she stepped in and shut the door, going directly to her bed. Everything else could wait.