A/N: This is my first Fairy Tail fanfic ever so I hope that you enjoy it. =D

Please review! ;)

A Chapter from the Past

Chapter 1 - Departure

Lucy stared at the appartment around her. It was tearing her apart from the inside. The very thought of leaving this place behind her, the very thought of leaving her home made her tear up inside. I don't want to leave, she thought to herself. Yet her conscience told her otherwise. She knew that if she didn't leave then she would only suffer so much more.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she quickly closed the door behind her. Pulling the thick cloak around herself she attempted to hold the tears in but to no avail. Quietly walking to the door of her landlady's appartment, she bent down and slipped a small envelope underneath the door. This was what she had saved for ever since she had found out. She had even taken out nearly all her savings.

Quickly she moved outside and tried to ignore the tugging of her heart. Pulling the relatively small bag over her shoulders she wandered away from the apartment, tears now freely flowing down her face. She couldn't take it anymore. She didn't want to see everyone so happy when she herself was tearing up on the inside. She knew that she was being selfish but she couldn't stop herself from being.

Without knowing it her feet carried her to her favourite place in the whole of Fiore. The guild of Fairy Tail stood tall and proud as the sun began to rise, causing it to shine brilliantly against the reds, crimsons and oranges of the sky. With a heavy sigh she cast one last forlorn look at the guild, at her home, before trudging to the train station.

Magnolia was still quiet, a gently silence holding the whole town in its grip. Her soft travelling boots made next to no sound as her feet pattered along the empty streets. It was as if the whole town was paying its respect to her condition. She smiled sadly, looking over the town one last time before going down the hill to the train station.

Just as she had settled down in one of the old seats to wait for the morning train that was due to arrive any minute now she felt the all-too-familiar feeling of nausea overcoming her. Running to the bathroom she stared at her palid reflection in the mirror after losing her sparse breakfast. It was ironic nearly, she seemed but a ghost of her former self while everyone else had seemed as lively as ever only the night before.

Hearing the whistle of the train she ran out of the dusty bathroom and boarded the train. Settling into a seat by the window she stared at the countryside as the train began to move. Somewhere deep inside of her she knew that a part of her heart, the largest part, would remain in this town forever.

~.~.~.~.~

"Morning Levy!" Levy smiled as she returned Mirajane's greeting. As she stepped through the doors of the guild she was confronted once again with the scene of Lisanna being in the centre of attention. And by the looks of it she was enjoying it to the fullest. Sitting down at the bar she smiled as Mirajane served her her favourite juice yet she sighed sadly as she turned to face the joyful scene once more.

Mirajane followed her fellow guild member's gaze and felt herself grow sad. During the two years that Lisanna had been in Edolas she had changed an awful lot. Yes, she was still the sweet younger sister that she had always known, yet a part of her knew that her sister had also become an attention-seeker of sorts. And right now she was completely in her element by the looks of it.

Lisanna had only returned three months ago and yet it felt like an eternity to her. It was as if her sister had never been gone, and yet something felt off. Mirajane frowned, her intuition was normally right.

"It's as if she was never gone, ne?" Levy voiced her very thoughts and Mirajane nodded softly before moving further down the bar to serve another member, a wide smile once again gracing her features.

"What's the matter shrimp?" Levy turned around to face Gajeel who had taken the liberty of sitting down next to her, munching on some metal nails or the other.

"I haven't seen Lu-chan in days." Levy said with a slight frown. "She normally always turns up in the guild, even if she's sick." Gajeel nodded at that. It was strange. The bunny-girl was always present, always laughing and smiling. With her not here it just didn't feel the same. It didn't feel as cheerful. And it made Levy sad which worried him. He had grown quite attached to the shrimp over the past few months, even though he would never admit it out loud, even if he was threatened and on the verge of death.

What irked him and Levy the most though was the way in which Lucy's team was acting. As if there was nothing wrong. To the two of them it felt as if Lisanna was simply replacing Lucy and it was a feeling that neither of them enjoyed. Natsu looked joyful and ecstatic and was currently making a fool of himself for Lisanna. And Erza and Gray were right there along with him, laughing as if they didn't have a care in the world.

"Hmpf." Gajeel turned back to his 'food', it shouldn't really be his concern anyway. Levy also turned back around, her features forming a dejected expression. Looking down the bar Gajeel saw another sulking figure. Happy the cat was sitting there nearly mournfully, ignoring the fish that was situated right in front of him. He was staring at the scene they had just been looking at, his eyes holding a heart-breaking expression.

Wendy and Charles were right in front of him, attempting to talk to him and cheer him up, but so far to no avail. Gajeel had never seen the blue bundle of joy so down. He growled menacingly underneath his breath, cursing the remaining members of Team Natsu to who-knows where and back.

Seriously, how dense could they get?

~.~.~.~.~

Two days later and Gajeel was on the verge of ripping the flame dragon slayer's head off. Levy was walking around like a wilted flower, only ever answering in mono-syllables and tones and looking like sadness personified. And Happy had joined her ranks. The two were always sitting at the bar and their heads shot up hopefully whenever the door opened, only to fall back down dejectedly after the person walking in turned out to not be Lucy.

How could he not even be caring about where the bunny-girl was? Wasn't she his partner and one of his closest friends? Was she that easy to replace? He growled and muttered a string of profanities under his breath stomping off to the bar to eat some of his metal in an attempt to cheer himself up. Levy's and Happy's downcast attitudes were starting to get to him. He knew that he was becoming more irate than ever.

Those three along with Wendy, Charles and Juvia weren't the only ones who were becoming increasingly concerned about the blonde celestial mage. As he looked over the guild Makarov felt a deep sigh leave his chest as he scanned the crowds for Lucy once more. It had been a week since he had seen her last and a week since he had last felt her prescence in Magnolia. It troubled him to no end that she was nowhere in sight and he knew that if they didn't find out where she was soon then someone would snap.

~.~.~.~.~

"Okay! We're heading out!" Natsu called gleefully as he waved good-bye to the guild, Lisanna situated by his side as Erza and Gray said their own farewells. Hearing a snort from the bar he turned his head to see Gajeel shake his head in... was it disgust? as he turned back to his metal 'food'.

"You got a problem metal freak?" Natsu called over, tensing for a fight.

"Yeah, in fact I do." Gajeel snapped back and Natsu felt surprised to see the disgust that he had heard in Gajeel's voice mirrored in his eyes too.

"Oh yeah?" Natsu smirked. "Then bring it." He got into his fighting stance, feeling the adrenaline begin to pump through him.

"Are you seriously that dense?" Gajeel asked while he shook his head.

"What do you mean Gajeel?" Erza came up beside him, looking at the iron dragon slayer in confusion.

"And you call yourself a team?" Gajeel spat out while Levy put a hand on his arm to calm him down.

"What do you mean?" Gray came up beside Natsu, confusion colouring his own features as he repeated Erza's earlier words.

"The cat here's the only one out of your team" Gajeel spat out, "that's noticed that bunny-girl's not here anymore."

A cold realisation flooded the three of them as Lisanna narrowed her eyes at the iron dragon slayer.

"So tell me Natsu" Gajeel said mockingly while Happy finally began to cry. "Where's your partner?"

Everyone in the guild grew deathly silent.

"Where's Lucy?"