Lucy held back a sob as she took one last look at Fairy Tail. She knew that her leaving would be best for everyone, but that didn't make it any easier.
"Luce! Hey, Luce!" she heard Natsu yell. "Wait up!"
She didn't-no-she couldn't turn around. If she did, she would never get away. And then she'd drag her friends down again. As long as she was still there, the amount of jobs they actually got done would be slim to none.
"Goodbye, Natsu." she whispered, before turning and taking off into the shadows.
Natsu was confused. He had wanted to tell Lucy something really important, but she ran away from him. Why did she always do that? She knew he had a horrible memory and would forget what he'd wanted to say by the next time he saw her!
"She's not coming back, Natsu." Erza said suddenly. She and Gray had followed him outside. "She's leaving for good this time."
"Why?" Natsu asked, hurt. "What did we do?"
"We did nothing. She thinks that she's dragging us down. Not only that, but you two were really close before Lisanna came back, but now you never leave her side. She feels out of place and brushed aside."
"And how do you know all of this?" Gray inquired.
"She was really drunk last night. But I didn't think she was serious about leaving. Just how close were you two, anyways?" Natsu mumbled an inaudible response and Erza frowned. "I can't understand you."
"I slept with her!" he growled, his hands tearing at his hair.
"But you guys do that all the..." Gray was a little slow off the mark. "Oh..."
"And you still pushed her aside the second Lisanna came back?" Erza cried, tears welling up in her eyes. "How could you? Thanks to your stupidity, I've probably just lost the best girlfriend I've ever had! I mean, who else is going to dress stupidity and get drunk with me?"
"I'm sure Juvia would." Gray muttered, crossing his arms.
"Why are we wasting time standing around and talking?" Natsu exclaimed. "Lucy's out there, all alone. Shouldn't we go after her?"
"This is something she feels she need to do, Natsu. And it's mostly your fault."
"How is this my fault?"
"Would you not feel left out if some guy from Lucy's past showed up, and she started to spend all of her free time with him?" silence. "Exactly. That's how she fells. And no shit about how Lisanna just got back and you want to spend some time with her. She's been back for almost six months."
"But I want Lucy." Ntsu said sadly.
"Well, then your going to have to wait for her to come back."