Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Fairy Tail characters that honor belongs to Hiro Mashima!

I do own the Ocs that appear in this story and the plot~

Chapter 1: The Star's Time Has Pass

A star is often viewed upon by humans as something filled with wonder since one cannot see a star up close. It is unattainable because it is so far out of reach, but it is still admired every night as it glitters in the sky. There is a saying or more like a belief regarding stars. Stars so bright and so pretty have an expiration date. They can only shine so long until their glow begins to flicker. Like humans stars can die too, but not everyone notices when a star dies. There are so many stars out there it is nearly impossible to see the death of one. There are only a few that can notice the death of one.

Some believe that people are like stars.

Some people shine more brightly than others. Even when among an endless sea of others there are those stars that stand out. They are deemed special because they glow so brilliantly. These special stars tend to have people gather around them. People flock to these few special people so they could enjoy their warm welcoming light. Like a beacon of light special stars are rarely alone. Yet like the stars in the sky they are not safe from their glow dying out. Eventually they dim as well.

On this night there is one special star by the name of Lucy Heartfilia, who shines as radiantly as the spirits she calls her friends, was awake. She has been through many unfortunate events through her young eighteen years of life, but her inner glow still burns on as fiercely as the day she was born. Tonight was no different than any other yet, except to the Celestial Mage of Fairy Tail. Tonight felt different, so very different. The night was quiet, save a few signing owls hooting their nightly calls as they hunted. The mood in the air felt like one of dread to the blonde woman inside her home. It was a night that spelled trouble in the near future.

It was on nights like these that Lucy wished she had a bottle of wine or any form of alcoholic beverage to keep her company. She rarely drank alcohol, especially since her father taught it was not proper for a lady to get smashed in public. She wondered what his reaction would be if he ever had the chance to come across Cana? He probably would die of horror. Ah well, her father was not around to keep her from drinking, if she had alcohol.

It would help to keep her mind from thinking.

To keep her damn mind from remembering things she would rather leave as an unwanted memory but no, it did not work like that.

After all, her own mind could be cruel to her sometimes.

It was being exceptionally cruel today. She sat on her bed with her knees curled up to her chin as she gazed upwards towards the brightly lit stars littering the night sky. Her mind wandering towards a subject she had been trying to avoid thinking about for the past few days, but her clear working mind was against her. So she ended up thinking about it. She ended up thinking about her teammates. She thought about it. Lucy was not blind and she was far from stupid. The blonde had seen the changes that were happening to Team Natsu. Changes that she did not like at all and could prevent from happening. She could even pinpoint when these changes first began to occur.

It had all began after they had returned from Edolas that rainy day seven years ago.

After all the crap that happened in the alternate dimension she was happy that they were able to make it back home safely, though the lost of their fellow member Mystogan was saddening. Lucy was just happy she had managed to help save her beloved guild mates and the civilians before it was too late. When they had reached Earthland it was only relief and happiness that sounded off in the rain. No one really cared that they were getting soaked to the bone or that they were exhausted from the battles. They were just happy. Someone had shouted about celebrating their miraculous return by throwing a party, but the thoughts of festivities were stopped when a familiar black colored Exceed stepped out of the bushes holding onto a rope.

Lucy thought nothing of it since the Exceeds had magic inside their being. So it should have been no surprise that the Exceed was dragged down to Earthland like the others. Nothing too special about a rope or so Lucy and the others thought. Rather the merit held in this seemingly normal rope was what was on the end of it. On the other end of the rope was a revelation. The revelation of Lisanna Strauss the younger sister of Mirajane and Elfman, who long believed to be dead due to a horrible accident, was alive. Truly it was much more miraculous than anything. This unexpected surprise of the youngest of the Take-Over siblings being alive and well brought about more happiness in the hearts of the guild members.

Yet this revelation was also was the catalyst of the change occurring in Lucy's life at the moment.

It was small things at first. Nothing too big that caused warning bells to go off in her head. She easily brushed aside in her mind as nothing. She just lived her normal life as a Fairy Tail Mage, her normal life as Lucy of Fairy Tail. She continued to smile and laugh with her friends remaining naive that no significant changes would occur. She remained ignorant that her happy life was in danger. Then her grueling defeat during the Grand Magical Games happened, but everything still remained the same. Everyone cheered her up giving her the much need support she needed. It was not until after they had won the games that Team Natsu slowly begun to drift away from her. Their focused had shifted completely to the youngest of the Take-Over siblings, Lisanna Strauss. Lisanna, just saying her name mentally caused Lucy produced an old feeling she despised to feel.

That familiar feeling of being alone began to creep into her system like a disease.

She should have been use to feeling that ugly feeling by now. Lucy had grown up always being alone ever since her mother died. Loneliness was her constant companion as she grew up and she thought she had left that ill wanted companion behind the moment she had joined Fairy Tail. Yes, she was not affected by that feeling of loneliness since then. At least that was what she told herself on a daily basis. A sad lie held together by simple words. She should have known that the feeling would have remained waiting for its opportunity to strike out at her weak heart again.

Naive, she was naïve.

It was quite possible her joining of the Fairy Tail guild probably held it back for a long time. Lucy felt that her theory held some value. She had experience the true meaning of the words family and friendship once she had joined the guild. She silently thanked the members of her guild for giving her a taste of what her own family could have been like. And she would always be grateful to Natsu for bringing her to such a wonderful and lively place, but Lucy knew—no, not knew rather more like felt it. She had felt a nagging feeling that her new found happiness would disappear one day. This feeling trickled around in the back of her mind. That feeling of her happiness fading had grown increasingly dreadful since Lisanna had returned from the dead and grew worse after the Grand Magical Games.

The evidence supporting her feeling was solidified by the very person who had brought her to Fairy Tail, Natsu. The Fire Dragon Slayer used to be by her side constantly. He used to always bug her to go on a job with him and Happy. He always was at her apartment like he lived there too. And sometimes the two would cuddle up in her bed for a good night's sleep. Natsu was her constant companion. He may be slightly annoying to the point she had considered magically sealing his mouth on a few occasions, but despite that Natsu was her dearest friend. The friend she cherished with all her heart.

But now it was the opposite and she was not so sure if Natsu saw her as friend anymore.

Natsu had not been paying much attention to her as of late. He did not bother to speak or look at her for the past few weeks. It was like she had become invisible to him and to the rest of Team Natsu, minus Gray and Happy. This sudden new cold treatment he had been giving her reminded the blonde of her late father's treatment when she was still in living in her cold unloving mansion. Her feeling of dismay had finally spilled over the edge the past few days when she had overheard Erza and Natsu speaking. They were discussing going on a possible job with Lisanna and not her. Every word that left their lips was like a knife stabbing her heart into tiny pieces. They wanted Lisanna on their team, not her. They did not want her on their team anymore.

Lucy felt unwanted. She was unwanted by the very people she deemed as her family. It was heartbreaking hearing those words leave the lips of her two friends. And thus that disease of loneliness she had long suffered had returned. Her poor unsuspecting heart could not withstand the sudden assault.

She feared she would have drowned in it if it was not for Gray and her spirits.

She remembered Gray had visited her the day after she had accidently eavesdropped on Natsu and Erza. The Ice Mage came into her apartment with a scowl on his face. He was muttering about how he was going to murder the Fire Dragon Slayer and the Reequip Mage. He was explicit in his details about how he was going to use his ice in very, very creative ways. Lucy was surprise and slightly horrified with what he was saying. Gray was frightening when he wanted to be, especially when he was angered. The Ice Mage did not catch her look of shock as he made a disturbing motion muttering about shoving ice somewhere not so pleasant.

Lucy could only smile sadly at him and abruptly told him it was not his fault. Nothing was his fault. It was not his fault that she was unwanted by Erza and Natsu. He was a very good friend she had said, a really good friend. Gray had finally heard her. He paused in his mutterings his face morphing into shock as understanding filled his cool dark eyes. He understood what she was speaking about. He knew she knew about Erza and Natsu.

He stepped inside her home.

He revealed a bottle of alcohol in his arm by placing it on the table as she closed the door behind her. Gray released a sigh as he stepped towards her. Nothing much was said as the Ice Mage pulled her into a hug as she sobbed into his arms. She had cried in his arms for some of the night until no more tears spilled out. The Ice Mage spent most of the time patting her head, until he voiced a suggestion. He suggested eating the ice-cream she still had in her freezer along with the bottle he had brought along with. She smiled agreeing to his idea. It was a good idea to her and she trusted Gray.

He had not betrayed her. So she brought out the ice-cream and two glasses. She didn't keep count of how many glasses she had had with him or how much ice-cream she had eaten, but for a moment she felt relieved of the worry. They talked and talked and talked until they could no longer form words. Gray had ended up staying over at her place well after the sun had come up. It was a nice night that two had shared.

That happened a few days ago.

Lucy sighed readjusting herself to sit cross-legged. She swept her blonde hair out of her brown eyes. She knew that heartbreak was coming for her, but after spending days wallowing in grief she found pointless to remain depressed forever. She really did not care about it anymore. She didn't care, not one bit. Okay, maybe she did a little, but she was tired of being sad, tired of just wallowing in grief.

She was tired of feeling like this.

When she had first heard the Erza and Natsu speak about their plan of having Lisanna go instead of her she had spent some time thinking why her two friends would even think of such a thing. It did not take her much time to figure out what the possible reason was, she didn't want to believe it at first, but it was the only reasonable one. She could say for certain she knew why Erza and Natsu would prefer Lisanna over her.

She was, in the psychical and destructive magical power sense, the weakest on Team Natsu. She could not deny it herself. After all compared to her other guild mates she didn't work on her physical strength as much as she should have. She did lack that kind of strength, but for what she lacked in destructive power and strength she made up for it. She made up for it with her intelligence and quick thinking skills. She had learned that strength could be, but intelligence in battle could be advantageous. You could always outsmart an opponent. She was more of a fight-smart type of person instead of the usual let's-charge-blindly- into-battle type of person. She just did not solely rely on pure destructive force like her teammates. Lucy figured it because of her upbringing. Her father was always more of a brain man than muscle man. As a heiress she needed to know how to use her brains.

She had won her fair share of battles using her wits alone, yet no one noticed.

After all, in most of the eyes of the Fairy Tail guild members' destructive power was held in high regards. So it was only natural that Lucy's cunning and smart fighting was overlooked. The only one that was well known was her defeat of Bickslow, but even then others only said she won because of Loke helping her. The rest of her victories were only known by a few people like her spirits and sometimes her team. So it was only natural what she had been labeled as weak. She was dubbed as the weak, little sexy blonde on Team Natsu by others outside the guild and quite possibly by some of her fellow guild members as well. She recalled the times when she had been asked how it like was to be supported by such strong teammates. In other words, how was it to be the weakest on such a strong team?

Weakest?

No.

"I am not weak." She whispered to herself in the silence of her room. She knew those words were not true. Her warm brown eyes gazed up at the constellations of some of her spirits. They were indeed her close friends that were glittering up in the night sky and sometimes she felt like they watched over her. No, she knew that they watched over her. "Gray is right though.

She heard Gray's words of encouragement playing in her mind.

It was the morning and Lucy found herself wrapped in the arms of the Ice Mage. She could hear her alarm buzzing off, but she didn't fell like getting up. Apparently Gray didn't want to wake up either. So the pair just shrugged it off and went back to sleep. When they did wake up, it was very late in the afternoon on the day Gray had crashed at her place after their alcohol filled night. She did give him a kick though because he had decided it would be funny to ice coat his hands and touch her when she was half awake. Gray had offered to cook something for them. She didn't mind. He made good food. So when he had disappeared into her kitchen she took it upon herself to clean his clothes. It was the least she could do.

He was rubbing his sore neck when Lucy came in holding his newly washed clothes.

"Here, some clean clothes for you Gray." She placed them on an empty chair with a small smile. "Sorry, about you're back by the way."

"Thanks and it was my bad." He grinned sheepishly. "I scared the shit out of you. I deserved the Lucy-Kick."

"Next time don't do that again." She warned walking to her cabinets bringing out plates and utensils needed to eat. "Geez, this feels so homey don't you think Gray?"

"Me cooking and you washing my clothes? Yes, it does feel homey." The Ice Mage laughed. "Though I can get use to this."

"Silly boy, don't let Juvia hear you say that!"

"I'm a man, not a boy!"

The pair laughed it off as the food Gray was preparing was ready to be eaten. Sometimes it was nice to joke around like this. There was no harm in it. It was served with the two mages sitting by one another. They ate as they conversed about nothing important. They really were just enjoying each other's company. It was nice and calm for Lucy. Gray had made her feel so much better. He always knew how to make her feel batter when she was down in the dumsps. She was happy for that, but something still prodded her brain. Something she wanted to get off her chest.

"Gray," she bit her lips using her fork to roll around a Brussels sprout, "do you think I am weak?"

"Why ask me that you already know my answer to that."

"I mean I know I am not weak, not at all, but—"

"Lucy, no one can bring you down, but yourself." Gray placed his fork on the plate as he walked over to Lucy's side of the table. He went behind her and hugged her tightly like he had last night when they laid in her bed together. "They're all blind and don't see what I see in you."

"But what if they are right? I am really that weak that I have to be replaced like that?" She dropped her fork, her small frame shaking slightly."I'm like any other mage. I have my strengths and my weakness, so do they want me off the team?"

"No! There is no way in hell that you're weak! You have helped out so many times on jobs. You have won plenty of fights like that guy in Edolas! And you don't back down no matter what happens." The Ice Mage released her from his embraced in order to pull her chair out so he could face her. He looked at her his eyes shining with emotions."Hell, you took a major beating from Gajeel when he was with Phantom and didn't give in. That takes guts."

"…"

"What you have to do is hold your head up high and show them what a mistake they made, Lucy!"

"I'll try to do that." Lucy replied smiling. "I just need some time to sort things out."

"I'll support whatever decision you make Lucy."

"Thanks Gray."

Seriously what would she do without Gray there to give her advice? Or to give her a slight boost in her self esteem? After that day she spent her time thinking about the situation. She ran the many scenarios through her head and the possible repercussions. In every scenario she found that the pros beat out the cons. Either way her decision would affect not her, but would also affect the others in the guild. Still she was sticking with her answer no matter what.

She had won battles without the aid of Natsu or Erza meaning she could do just fine by herself.

She had won despite the lack of destructive magical power or physical. That proved her worth an individual mage. Then there was the aspect of her magic. Not just anyone could be a Celestial Mage, especially now days. Did her teammates and others not know how hard it was just too even summon and keep a Celestial Spirit in the human realm? It was extremely hard thing to do. Hard because when bringing a spirit to the human realm required using some of your own magic and then that same spirit used more of your magical energy to fight too. It was a lot of drainage, a constant flow of drainage.

And then there was the multiple summoning that divided and used up more of your magical energy. Lucy never really told anyone how draining her magic could be sometimes. She never described the feeling to anyone. The feeling of your magical energy being shared and consumed by others each time you summoned, but she loved her magic and her spirit friends too much to ever complain about it. She would never complain anyways. That was not the point of her self evaluation though. Her point was quite simple. If she was weak then she should not be able to summon a spirit. Let alone two spirits at once. No, she was far from weak. As Loke had once told her she is one of the strongest Celestial Mages he had ever come across in a long time.

To get a complement from the leader of the Zodiac meant she was no weakling.

"As a Celestial Mage I am not weak, but it never hurts to improve my current strength."

Training would be good. It would help increase her reservoir of magical power within her body. Physical training would help her stamina and strength. It may take a long time to achieve the destructive power Natsu, Gray and Erza had, but she would be a fighter to be reckoned with as well. With her spirits by her side and the right mindset nothing was impossible, nothing at all.

Even if it meant breaking up some friendships to get there, not that she wanted to do that.

Her eyes fell upon the picture of her and Team Natsu. It was the first ever picture of them as a full fledge team. They were huddled together. Arms around each other in a warm and happy embraced. Gray had an arm around her a smirk on his face. Erza stood behind them looking regal and beautiful as always. Happy was flying with a fist in the air. And Natsu stood next to her with his broad goofy grin flashing at the camera. Lucy felt a small smile form on her pretty face. She would cherish the times she had with Team Natsu. It was one of her happiest times in Fairy Tail, but it was time to accept that her time with them had passed.

"Time to face the heartbreak."

And on this night one dimming star decided to continue on shinning in the darkness.

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