SO GANG (well hopefully more than one person will read this fanfiction) this is my first ever story. I only used to read fanfiction but now i'm writing it; one of the symptoms of my FT obsession I guess.

SO anyway this fanfiction is dedicated to my dear imouto-chan, who shares my obsession of FT and manga.

The Day the Magic Died

It was the sixth anniversary of that day. Everyone was feeling it, even the weather outside seemed to reflect an all-encompassing misery; with a thundering storm and pouring rain. The guild sat in commemorative silence, gathered in small despondent groups around the tables. Almost every member was present, the absence of several members of team Natsu very conspicuous. Suddenly there was a crash, louder than the thunder outside as Fairy Tail's front door burst open and two children staggered through it.

Everybody inside the guild froze to stare. A girl and boy child, filthy, and soaked to the skin.

"P-please help us," one whispered and the pair of them collapsed, but not before a certain scarlet haired mage had caught sight of the ring of celestial keys clasped in the girl's hand.

Erza was the first to react. She leapt up and sprinted to the children's aid, surreptitiously removing the keys from the little girl's grasp and stowing them in her pocket as she did so. She didn't know what to think, but she did know that if anyone saw Lucy's keys then there would be trouble. She didn't know who these children were and there was no need to get everyone's hopes up, thinking that they might know something about Lucy.

Everyone crowded round as Erza inspected the kids. They looked like they had been through a lot. Their dirty brown hair was matted and tangled, their clothes were not only soaked but torn, and covered in dark patches that looked suspiciously like blood.

"We'll take them to the infirmary," Mira whispered.

Erza nodded. "Does anyone know when Wendy is due back from her mission?" she murmured. The tense situation seemed to have impressed on everyone the need to be silent and no one else in the guild was making a sound.

Mira shook her head, "we'll just have to see what we can do for them."

And with that she and Erza carried the children into the infirmary, where they did what they could for their injuries and then sat watching over them till daybreak.

Downstairs there was an unusual amount of noise, for this day of the year anyway. Everyone was muttering about the kids, making guesses and assumptions. The master stood surveying the scene in front of him, he felt even more depressed than he usually did on this day. More injured children, it made him feel sick. Well Fairy Tail would take them in and look after them, because that was the sort of guild it was. Yes, the children would become Nakama and be protected. Protect your Nakama. The words seem to drive into him like a spear. No, not again. He would not fail his children again; he would protect them at all costs.

That dreadful day had scarred him, as the master of Fairy Tail it had been his job to protect his children. But he had failed.

The memories of that day echoed back to him. Six years ago to this exact day a battle to rival all battles had taken place at Fairy Tail. An alliance of dark guilds had struck simultaneously against them. Supposedly their aim was to steal the rare magical abilities Fairy Tail possessed, though no one could be certain about this. The battle had been bloody and ruthless. Fairy Tail would have dealt with the dark guild reasonably well, if it had not been for the blackout half way through the fight. One of the dark guilds possessed a mage with the terrifying ability to nullify magic and the second he stepped onto the battlefield everyone's magic had vanished.

Fairy Tail had kept fighting of course. Reduced to non-magical fighting, only those who could wield weapons like Erza, or were skilled at hand-to-hand combat like Natsu, could pose any effective threat to the dark guild. It was then shockingly that Lucy Heartfilia, who no one had really considered that strong, became a key soldier in the battle. Her talent with a whip knocked countless enemies aside, until someone decided that she had to be stopped.

It was then that the master shook himself, it would not do to remember the worst consequence of that day. No, he saw daily the aftershocks. He saw it in Levy's missing arm, in Evergreen's scarred face, in the chunk missing from Gajeel's chest. But most of all in the sorrow of Fairy Tail's strongest team and the six year absence of Natsu's smile.

Please R&R, I would really appreciate it! :)

Whoa so that was heavy, the next chapter should be a bit lighter as the kids will wake up. Hopefully there will also be some humour and pairing references. Oh and more explanations of the battle as other people flashback.

Mah and the title of this story is a reference to the song 'American Pie' by Don McLean, every chapter will be named after a song as I like to write with a muse.