Chapter 1

Well then, here's the more "refined" version of Alone with an Emerald.
Thanks again for reading and remember to review~

A beautiful blonde stood alone amidst a clearing surrounded by snow-capped trees. Snowflakes fell around gently and some kissed her closed lids. Opening her large, watering brown eyes, she looked at the ground before sprinting away as fast as she could. One teardrop escaped from her eyes and splashed onto the ground below. A soft, pale orange glow surrounded the area the teardrop fell on to and spread around the clearing. The ground started to shake slightly; something was stirring beneath the earth.

XxxxX

The guild was the same as always, Natsu and Gray bickering and blowing the whole place up. Of course, Erza was there too but today, she seemed to be in too cheerful a mood to notice Natsu and Gray. What was making Erza extremely happy? Nobody knew and nobody wanted to go up and ask her in case her mood would change a full 180 degrees. Natsu and Gray soon calmed down and settled back in their seats when Lucy came running in. She had tears streaming down her face and was silently crying. Not making a sound, she ran over to Natsu, buried her face in his scarf and cried. Natsu had a surprised look on his face. The guild had gone quiet and all attention was focused on the two. Natsu, being Natsu, panicked and seemingly went mute. This was where Erza stepped in. Striding over to Lucy, Erza took the situation into her hands. "Lucy, are you all right?" Erza patted Lucy's head.
"I…I'm fine…" Lucy's hysterical crying had turned into small occasional hiccups and she dislodged herself from Natsu's scarf and got up. Dusting herself off, she apologized to Natsu and faced Erza. "I'm just a bit shaken up." Erza looked slightly confused. "It's nothing important." Lucy braved a smile and looked at the entire guild. "You guys can stop staring now." Everyone continued to stare at Lucy. Irritated, Lucy snapped at everyone and said loudly, "Seriously! Stop staring!" Not wanting to be on the bad side of Lucy anymore, the guild continued to buzz with chatter. Lucy turned around to smile at Erza and noticed Natsu still looking panicky. Lucy flushed slightly and punched him lightly on the arm. "Sorry about that Natsu," Lucy said sheepishly. "Everything's all right now," Lucy confirmed though inside, she knew nothing was okay. She had just learnt that she was inwardly a monster. She needed to tell someone. Though she would like to tell Erza, she would probably think Lucy was joking. Gray had just left when Lucy ran in and Lluvia was most likely with Gray. This left Natsu. Lucy sighed and glanced back at him. He was back to his old self again though complaining loudly. "Where's Grayyyy? I'm bored!" Lucy laughed. I guess I should ask him now. She walked over and tapped him on the shoulder. "Natsu, can you come over to my place for a minute or two?"
"Yeah sure!" Mirajane overheard the two and winked at Lucy. "Good luck," she mouthed to her. Lucy blushed furiously and Natsu didn't notice a thing.

XxxxX

"Thanks for coming over Natsu!" Lucy swung open the door and greeted him with a wide grin. "No prob. So what do you wanna talk about Luce?" Natsu stepped in and closed the door behind him.
"Well, I have-"
"Hey do you have something to eat? I'm starveddd!" Natsu swung open the door to the poor little refrigerator. Rolling her eyes, Lucy plopped down on her bed and waited for him to finish knowing he would take a long time. After finally emerging from the kitchen, Natsu opted for Lucy's bed but knowing it would make Lucy irritated at him, he plopped down on the floor. "So whatcha wanna tell me?" Lucy took a deep breath.
"Okay, you don't have to believe me but I need to tell you this. See how my eyes are brown right now?" She pointed to her eyes and waited for Natsu's reaction.

"Yeah, is there something wrong with them?" Natsu leaned in to study her eyes more intently and Lucy felt his breath on her neck. Nervous she was so close to him, she turned which made Natsu sit back on the ground again. "Well," picking up on her last line, "sometimes, when someone close to me is in danger, my…my right eye turns green…"

"Woah! That's cool!"

"It isn't really…"

"…Why?"

"Well, I completely forget who I am and I turn into some sort of a…killing machine…a monster…" Lucy looked down at her feet and waited for Natsu to run out in disgust at her. "…You can't control it so it's not your fault." Surprised at Natsu's calm reply, Lucy looked up. "Why aren't you scared of me?"

"Why should I be scared of you? At least now I know where your bad temper comes from!" Natsu said jokingly.

"That's not funny!" yelled Lucy and punched him. "Well, I'm glad you accept that fact but I might hurt you when I turn into…that…"

"It'll be all right! I'll like…save you and all that stuff!" Glad Natsu was taking this well, Lucy smiled once again and looked at the clock. "Ohmygosh! It's already so late! Sorry but I gotta kick you out Natsu!" Lucy shot up from her bed and began to push Natsu out the door. "Whaaaat? Whyyyyyyyyy? I don't wanna goooooo," Natsu whined. "You gotta! Shoo fire-boy!" Just as Natsu reached the door, the doorbell rang. "Who's ringing this late?" Lucy wondered out loud. She momentarily forgot about pushing Natsu out and opened the door. "Erza! Levi! Mira! What are you all doing here? And Gray…!"

"We're here to crash at your place. Sleepover!" Erza smiled and slipped in past Lucy. "What! Okay. Fine. Just this night!" She laughed and let everyone in.

"Awesome! This means I get to stay here! Yes!" Natsu span around in circles until he got dizzy and crashed into Gray by accident. "Watch where you're going hot-head!" Gray kicked Natsu and put his fists up, preparing to fight Natsu. "Oh yeah? You wanna fight ice-butt?" Natsu engulfed himself in flames and the two were about to exchange fists when Lucy intercepted and yelled, "Don't blow up my place you two! Take it outside or at least somewhere else!" Lucy's place was full of laughter and yelling that stretched long into the night.