This wasn't a request, I wrote this for myself. Chapter 416 was too much for me, my heart was hurting. It took me too long to actually, finally, write this. I feel a little bit better. I wanted to get this out before the next chapter came out. I'm thinking about doing a Gruvia, Jerza, and Gale one next. I don't know... I did this one though because Nalu is my biggest OTP in Fairy Tail.

So, you know... Ah. Some angst. Nalu of course.

I would say enjoy but I don't think you're supposed to.

PS: Oh, Wendy is in it. Her hair is short. I really liked it short so blah. I was disappointed when it grew back in 416, though that doesn't mean it wasn't pretty when it was long. I just like short, *shrug* sue me.

PSS: Please don't sue me, that was a joke. I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. Obviously. Unless I do, and don't realize it... No, that wouldn't make any sense. Ignore that last line :p

A sigh escaped the blonde as she tried to maintain her composure. The customer standing in front of her had been asking the same question over and over.

Lucy smiled politely, her hands gripping the counter.

"Where is the bath room? Speak clearly, I can't understand you when you mumble," the lady snapped. Lucy felt her lips twitch. She had not been mumbling, and had spoken loud and clearly.

"I'm sorry ma'am, I didn't mean to. The bathroom is that way," Lucy said, pointing to the right, with a fake politeness.

Lucy had to remain polite, she needed this job. She couldn't afford to be fired, not with the guild disbanded and no missions to complete. Lucy winced, she didn't like to think about Fairy Tail, it always hurt. She ached for her family and for the life she had before everything had gone wrong.

Pushing away the thoughts Lucy focused on the customer, who was glaring at her, with pursed lips.

"That's all you had to say," she sniffed. Lucy ground her teeth in irritation.

Lucy bowed slightly, murmuring "Sorry for causing you trouble." She barely stopped herself from adding a snarky remark. She really needed this job.

The lady scoffed and turned away, muttering something about talking to the manager. Lucy suppressed an irritated groan.

She was working in a small book store in the middle of town, called Books United. After Fairy Tail had disbanded, there were no missions to go on, so no money to make. Lucy had had to move to a cheaper apartment, to her regret and remorse. Usually, working in a book store would have been a dream come true, but she found herself missing going on missions with a pink-haired idiot and an annoying blue cat.

Lucy scowled at the book shelf, trying to ignore the memories of them surfacing. It had been months since they had left, and a lot had changed.

Levy and Gajeel had gotten together and decided to travel around the world with Lily in tow. Wendy, not really having anywhere to go, had moved in with Lucy. Erza found a job somewhere in the city as a waitress, though that didn't lessen any of her fighting spirit. I had actually heard she was promoted to the status of a manager. Gray and Juvia had done the same thing as Gajeel and Levy, though Gray refused to admit they were a couple. Master had disappeared, along with Laxus.

Everyone else was so spread out, and whether in Magnolia or in some other city, Lucy couldn't be sure. It was hard to keep in touch with everyone after a while.

Books United was Lucy's only income and she found herself working it night and day, just to be able to afford her small apartment and the food to feed herself, Wendy, and Carla.

Lucy glanced at the watch on her wrist. Her shift was almost over. Lucy was tired and couldn't wait to go home, she hadn't been sleeping lately. When she did manage to, her dreams were riddled with losing Aquarius and Natsu. Dark circles were under her eyes and her body was exhausted.

After organizing a few book shelves she waved at her boss to show her she was done for the day. After grabbing her purse she walked out of the shop onto the cobble stone street. Her feet wanted to head towards the left, to her old apartment, but she knew better than that. Instead, she turned right.

Magnolia, within its own rights, was a very grand city, with tall buildings and clean roads. But the way Lucy was heading, the houses got smaller, and the road slightly dirtier than the main part of Magnolia. It wasn't like it was the slums; it just wasn't as nice as Lucy's old area.

She sighed as she stood in front of the old apartment, brown and plain. In Lucy's mind, it was disgusting. She opened the door and climbed up the stairs, each step creaking under her feet. She walked past a few doors before coming to stand in front of her apartment with '2D' written on the door. Sighing Lucy inserted the key into the door and pushed it open.

The apartment was very small with two bedrooms, one bath, and a small kitchen. Lucy walked through the carpeted hallways and knocked on Wendy and Carla's room.

"I'm home!" Lucy called. There was a small thump from behind the door before it was pulled open. Standing in the doorway was a small girl with short blue hair. Sitting behind her on the ground was a white exceed.

"Hi, Lucy! Welcome back," Wendy said, smiling. Lucy felt warmth spread through her. Even if most of her life had fallen through a dark hole, she still had Wendy. They had grown closer in the time they had lived together, becoming almost like sisters

"Thanks," Lucy said. "I'm going to make some dinner. Wendy nodded.

"Do you need any help?" she asked.

Lucy shook her head, "No, I think I've got it for now. Go back to what you were doing."

Wendy glanced back at the papers spread out on the ground and abandoned books. After she had discovered her mother, Grandine, had resided inside her, Wendy had been researching dragons more fiercely then before.

Nodding, Wendy moved to shut the door, but not before shooting Lucy a worried glance. Lucy knew why she did, but Lucy pretended not to notice. She didn't want to think about it.

Sighing, she walked over to the small kitchen. Mournfully she thought of her old apartment's spacious kitchen. She walked over to the cupboard above the stove that sat next to the fridge and grabbed some noodles with a small frown on her lips. Lucy reached into a cabinet next to the stove and got out a pot. She quickly filled it with water from the sink and started to boil the water.

Lucy's shoulders slumped as she watched the water.

Wendy was worried about her and Lucy couldn't help but agree with that. Even now, she felt her mood darkening. Her eyes went to the calendar on the fridge and her eyes moved to the date. Tomorrow would be the one year anniversary of when Natsu and Happy left. They promised to come back in a year, but she couldn't help but get the feeling that they wouldn't come back at all.

Lucy's chest tightened at the memory of the dragon slayers idiotic grin and the cat's comments. She refused to cry though, she had cried enough the first weeks that they had been gone. Taking a deep and shaking breath she poured the noodles into the pot.

Lucy wouldn't cry.

Once dinner was served, pasta with red sauce and broccoli, they sat around the table that had been squeezed into the kitchen. Lucy served the meal to Wendy and herself, while setting a cooked piece of fish in front of Wendy. After Happy left she had taken a liking to fish, only if it was cooked though.

"How's the research going?" Lucy asked, digging into her pasta.

Wendy's shoulders slumped.

"I can't find anything except for old lore and legends. The dragons are so hidden in mystery it's hard to separate truth from lie." Carla nodded in agreement as she chewed on a piece of fish.

"I'm sure you'll find something," Lucy said confidently. "Maybe you should ask-," Lucy stopped abruptly, her eyes darkening. Levy was probably on the opposite side of Fiore, she wouldn't be able to help.

"Lucy?" Wendy asked, her head tilted to the side. Lucy blinked.

"Ah, sorry. It's nothing!" Lucy lied.

Wendy nodded uncertainly.

Carla cleared her throat, "About tomorrow." Lucy stiffened, her hand tightening on the fork.

"Wendy and I are going to go visit Erza, so we will be gone the whole day. Don't bother making dinner for us. We will be back late," she continued.

Lucy's shoulders slumped. They knew Natsu had promised to come back tomorrow, and just in case he did, they wanted to give us privacy. Lucy also knew Carla was looking forward to seeing Happy, though she'd never admit it, and Wendy wanted to see Natsu, so to put off seeing them for another day must have been tough.

Too bad they aren't coming back, Lucy thought sadly.

"Okay, just be careful," Lucy said anyway, not wanting to appear ungrateful for their sacrifice. "You know how Erza acts when her employees mess up, which is often."

Wendy laughed. "We will, don't worry."

After dinner Lucy retired to her bedroom, staring up at the ceiling as she rested on the bed. Though she had been living here for more than eleven months it still felt like a stranger's room, without any of her personal items on display. Lucy was afraid that if she claimed that this was her new home, then it would make it final, and she'd never go back to her old apartment.

She dreaded tomorrow, knowing she would be anticipating Natsu's return, but feel disappointed when he didn't show up.

Besides, how would he find her anyway? She had moved from the place he would go looking for her. Fairy Tail was gone too, and she doubted he knew that the guild had disbanded.

Closing her eyes Lucy tried to rid the memory of finding his letter in her old place. The ache and fear in her chest she had felt when she read in it was so intense that it was hard to breathe. Without thinking she ran out of her apartment, trying to find the idiot, and stop him. She had stopped halfway down the road though, collapsing onto the ground, knowing he was already gone. The feeling of hopelessness spread through her when she realized she really was alone.

Why does everyone leave me?

Lucy fell asleep as a tear slipped down her face and dropped onto the bed.

When Lucy woke up in the morning, there were a few blissful seconds when she didn't remember what today was, she didn't feel the heavy stone that rested in her stomach. Soon enough though, it came back.

She rolled out of bed reluctantly. She longed to stay in bed, and to cry for the rest of the day, curled up in the sheets. But it wouldn't help, and she had to go to work.

Once she was dressed in her uniform she walked out of the apartment, careful not to wake up Wendy and Carla. Lucy still wore her keys on her hip, even though she had little use for them anymore. Lucy couldn't bear with the thought of going without her friends. Around her neck she wore the broken key, Aquarius, on a string. Lucy never went without it, it was her reminder.

When she showed up to work she kept her head down, refusing to interact with her coworkers. She didn't have the energy today. Her shoulders got lower and lower as she sold books and cleaned the store. At the end of the day she knew they couldn't go any lower. Waving goodbye to the manager she started her slow trudge home.

The day had passed quicker then she expected, and like she thought would happen, Natsu and Happy weren't there.

I knew it.

When she got back to the empty apartment and sat down on her bed. Lucy reached under her pillow and pulled out the wrinkled paper she always slept on top of. It was Natsu's goodbye letter. She finally started to cry, clutching the letter to her chest as tears landed on the paper. She cursed herself for crying, for being so weak, but that didn't stop the tears.

"You promised, idiot. You promised and you aren't here. Idiot, idiot, idiot!" Lucy cried, falling onto her side.

"Why aren't you here? You said you wanted me to take care of everyone, right? What if I need to be taken care of? Come back, Natsu, I need you. Please," she whispered, her voice breaking. Lucy squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to look at the letter anymore, but not able to let it go.

"I wanted to believe in you Natsu, I wanted to believe you would come back. I tried so hard, so, so hard. But you broke your promise, you idiot. Why aren't you here?"

Lucy wasn't sure why she was talking to herself like this, but it seemed to help calm her down a bit. Slowly her sobs subsided and she stared at the letter, as she had done so many times before.

The last thought she had before she fell asleep was, Natsu you idiot.

Natsu wasn't sure what to do. He had thought about their reunion so many times, imagined the scenario going a thousand different ways. This wasn't one of them.

Natsu had arrived in Magnolia with Happy, both happy and excited to see their teammate. Without even thinking about it he had headed towards her apartment. When he had arrived he noticed something strange. It didn't smell like her anymore. Sure, there was the faint scent of vanilla and rain, her scent, but it was so faint. That could only mean she hadn't been there in a long time. Finding this odd he had asked her scary landlady where Lucy was.

The landlady had frowned at him. "Oh, you're back I see. Lucy? No, she left a long time ago. She couldn't afford to pay rent."

Natsu blinked in surprise, "Do you know where she is now?"

She nodded and rattled off the address to her. Of course, he had headed straight towards her new home, and to his relief he caught her scent. Oddly enough it was accompanied by Wendy's and Carla's.

He burst into the apartment, for once using a door, only to find it empty, to his disappointment.

So he waited.

And waited. Finally Happy and he had crashed on a bed in one of the rooms that was riddled with papers. They were exhausted, after traveling all day here. Natsu wasn't sure how long he had slept but woke up when he heard soft crying coming through the wall. He blinked and frowned, then his eyes widened. It was Lucy.

Then he heard her talking, saying his name and yelling at him. She sounded so defeated and so un-Lucy like that it sent rage through him.

After a small pause, "Why aren't you here?"

Without thinking he left the room, leaving behind a sleeping Happy, and walked into her room. Lucy lay sprawled on the bed, a piece of paper clutched in her hands. Her eyes were shut as her chest rose up and down in a rhythm that told him she was sleeping. Natsu felt his gut tighten at the sight of her.

She was as beautiful as he remembered. Her hair still looked like gold, a few strands falling into her face. Lucy always looked like an angel to him, but never had the feeling struck him as strongly before as it did now.

The only thing that ruined the image was her red eyes and wet face. Natsu hated Lucy crying, that was just his thing. When Lucy cried you knew something awful had happened. Lucy was meant to be smiling with her usual bright manner, crying was not like her.

That alone was a punch in the gut, but then to know she was crying because of him…

Their reunion should have been happy. He wanted to run to her and scoop her up in a hug, to say he was here, he hadn't broken his promise, that he would never leave her again. Instead Natsu did the next best thing. He climbed onto her bed and lay down next to her, his arms pulling her close.

He expected her to pull away but instead of doing that she snuggled closer. Natsu wanted to cry as he finally, finally, held her after all this time, and buried his nose in her hair. He breathed, relishing in her scent. Eventually he fell asleep with her.

When Lucy woke up she noticed two things. First, it was very warm in her bed, and second, she was not alone. Strong arms were wrapped around her body, drawing her close to a firm wall.

Lucy was frozen in terror. Had some creep come in during the night and cuddled with her?

"Lucy…" a voice whispered behind her. Her eyes widened and her body stiffened. She knew that voice. She had dreamed about it often enough, and thought about it too many times to forget it.

Lucy was afraid to move, afraid that if she did he would disappear, along with her hopes and dreams.

"Natsu?" she finally managed. The only response she got was to be pulled tighter against his chest. The warmth radiating from him was too much for her. She was so used to sleeping with the coldness and waking up to coldness. Waking up to warmth brought back memories of waking up with Natsu in her bed when everything was normal. On the rare morning she would let him stay in bed, just for a little longer, only when she was feeling especially cold, and he was especially warm.

Tears started to fall.

"Natsu, is that you?" she asked again, voice shaking.

Lucy didn't breathe when no response came. Slowly she turned onto her side to look at the man she was sleeping with. It was definitely Natsu. His eyes were closed, his mouth slightly open. His hair was longer, as it was in a ponytail. His muscles were bigger too, and it looked like his body was longer.

A sob shook her body as she stared at him. He was back.

"Natsu, wake up."

Slowly his eyes opened and he stared at her groggily.

"Luce?" he mumbled. Lucy's heart broke; she never thought she would hear him use her nickname again.

Lucy wanted to hug him, kick him, yell at him, smile, scream, cry. So many mixed emotions stirred in her stomach but all she said was, "Natsu, why are you in my bed?"

He frowned at her, as if confused by the question.

"What do you mean?"

Yell at him it was, Lucy decided. She struggled out of his embrace and he let her go reluctantly. Lucy stood up and glared at Natsu. She was beyond angry.

"What the hell, Natsu," she growled through gritted teeth. Natsu sat up, eyeing her warily. "What. The. Hell."

Lucy was shaking, she was so angry.

"How dare you?" she practically shouted. "How dare you just leave for an entire year, and then come back and climb into my bed!"

Natsu gulped and muttered nervously, "L-Luce…"

"No! You don't have the right to call me that anymore!" she shouted at him. He flinched, his shoulders slumping. His features were clouded with guilt and remorse.

"You left for an entire year Natsu! An entire year! Do you realize how lonely I was? Do you know what happened to me before you left? Do you know what happened to the guild?" By now she was crying again, her hands fisted at her sides.

"I needed you Natsu, I needed you so much. And then you left, without even a goodbye. I am so angry Natsu. How could you do that to everyone?"

Lucy took a deep shuddering breath and wiped away her tears with the back of her hand.

"Everything that has happened… You were something I could count on, Natsu. And you left." Lucy wasn't angry anymore, her anger gone as quickly as it started. Now she was just tired, and sad. She wanted to lie back down and shut her eyes to the world that was spiraling away in front of her.

She had imagined their reunion. She had imagined yelling at him, giving him a piece of her mind. Lucy had thought it would also be a happy reunion after she yelled at him, that she would end up forgiving him and everything would be okay. She hadn't thought that she would be this exhausted so soon, and she hadn't suspected the emptiness she would feel.

It didn't matter if she yelled at him all day, if she released all of her frustration and anger at him. He already knew, she could tell by his expression. Natsu understood and thought he deserved it. That alone was enough to snuff out her anger like a candle.

Lucy fell to the ground, pulling her knees into her chest. Lucy hid her head in her knees and cried, shoulders shaking.

"I missed you so much Natsu, so much."

Natsu felt awful. He deserved it, everything she was saying. Especially when he saw Aquarius's key around her neck, broken. Especially when he saw her broken expression, and especially when he made her cry. Again.

When she fell to the floor though, he reacted without thought. He sat down next to her and pulled her against him. Lucy stiffened just for a second before relaxing against him.

"I missed you too, Luce," he whispered, his voice breaking. "There wasn't a day that went by when I wasn't thinking about you."

Lucy closed her eyes and snuggled closer. This wasn't the end of it, she knew. She was still angry, still sad, and still broken. The guild was still disbanded, her family still in shambles. She still had yet to get her old apartment back and still had to go to work tomorrow.

But, just for a moment, it was okay.

Natsu couldn't help but agree.

"Welcome home, Natsu," Lucy murmured into his chest.

"I'm home."

Comments, suggestions, reviews? Yes, no, maybe so?

This wasn't a request, but I do take requests for stories. It can be whatever your heart desires. PM me or review. I'm considering doing the post-Arc one for either Gruvia, Gale, or Jerza. Possibly all. So you know, if you want me to write one of those (or all) just tell me.

Please review, I want to hear your opinion on the story. How else will I become a better author without your thoughts? I'm going to publish one day *she states confidently, ignoring the doubt that rests in her stomach* Hahaha, I'm weird.

Hope you enjoyed (sorry for the kind of corny ending with the "welcome home" thing. I couldn't help it, my heart needed it).