NEW STORY! Gosh, it's been a while since I published one. I say this story is new but actually I've been working on it for about a year and a half and only just finished it recently.

This new story (Set before the time skip BTW) is one filled with drama, and I'll admit serious conspiracies but I hope you like the story line and keep reading!

(Bold Names= P.O.V)

Never Let Go
Chapter 1: Save Her

NATSU/LUCY

"S- someone like me is just causing you trouble..." her voice cried. There was no need for her to turn her face, Natsu could already smell the salt of her tears.

"Luce-" Natsu tried. Lucy was wrong. Everything she was saying was so wrong. It hurt Natsu to hear her say such things to him.

"No Natsu." She whispered in a hoarse mutter. "I- I have to go. I've caused too much trouble for Fairy Tail...for you. You've all been hurt too many times."

"Lucy!" Natsu wailed in a harsh cry. She had to stop. Never before had Natsu felt so much pain. It hurt. It hurt so much, mercilessly ripping his heart from his chest. "Lu-"

"Goodbye, Natsu." She took her first step and her whole body quivered at the intense weight hanging on every inch of her body. Walking away from Natsu was like trying to walk through stone. Each step she took felt even worse, wrenching at every one of her muscles to move.

"Lucy! You're wrong!" Natsu snapped, furious rage burning at the ice running over his heart. His fist clutched his chest, grasping at the heavy aching inside his chest. "You think you can run away?"

Lucy gasped. Her feet froze. Her pale hand caught her chest, clinging desperately to the sapphire necklace around her neck. She held it tightly, knowing that if she let go, she'd reach back to the world she needed to leave behind.

"You think we get hurt because you caused us trouble? ...How stupid." Natsu chuckled in a pitiful breath. "I thought you were smart Lucy. I thought you would never give up, never run from a true fight. I thought you'd know..." Natsu's head snapped up in one last plea from the last warmth left in his heart. "Fairy Tail never cared if you caused trouble! Because we protect and fight for our friends! We fought for you! I fought for you Lucy. Natsu's whole body rattled as his muscles tensed to the point of almost ripping themselves apart. His hands clenched in balls of fury until his knuckles turned white and red from the nails cutting into his skin. "Don't go..." His voice sank into a whispering wail, tears finally tempted to roll from his eyes.

Not saying anything more, she left.

...

Two years later...

EMI

"So this is Magnolia huh? It's a strange place..." The figure admired, picking out the landmarks she recognized from description. "It's exactly how she described it." The figure pulled up her hood and made way into the city.

Music played cheerfully as travelers danced in fluent movements on lively feet. Salesmen chatted and flattered people of all ages to try their different foods. Drunkards exploded from the doors of inns as their bodies wrapped around each other in a ragged fight. Men and woman jeered from the sides; some were drunk, others curious and some even considered it a sport to see which of the several drunk and disorderly would be left standing.

It seemed like it was a long time ago since she had met the strange traveler, who had saved her that fateful day.

However, it had only been two years and to think that every detail she included was still alive and kicking in the present. Even shops, restaurants and memorable people were as she had told, even two years into the future. At first she had doubted the stories thinking 'there's no way a city with such life could exist'. Before she had arrived, wonders of the world seemed to be like a myth or fairy tale. Then that night and similar nights came, and awoke the stories that let her see the beauty within the world. Like a child always dreams, she had developed a dream. From those stories, her wish was born; she wanted to see Magnolia.

At last, her dream had become reality. For good and bad reasons, she was able to see the world she thought of as the most magical place on Earthland. One thing she didn't want, was the hindering shadow that lead her to seek her dream land, cast over her as she moved among her treasured place.

Nevertheless, if her mission was to fail, she feared all she would see when looking on the city, would be the guilt and grief that would overcome her heart.

As she moved towards the edge of the city, her heart beat pounded harder and harder as she moved closer towards her destination. It became pretty much impossible for her to look around and admire her surroundings when she realized it would soon come into view. When it did, she almost collapsed, overwhelmed.

To the exact detail, it was how she said it was. Its banner proudly swaying in the breeze, its towering high walls standing tall, the cast iron gates and the two wooden doors that closed the entrance.

Taking a deep breath, she drew all the courage she could muster and closed in on the doors. Their soft, gentle texture warmed her hands just like it always did to her's as she pushed against it.

Noise almost exploded from the doors through the little open crack. Quickly, the girl closed it again, panting in surprise. "That shocked me." She whispered through gasping breaths. It was loud, she was told that. It was wild, she was told that too. But that wasn't as wild and loud as she was expecting; it was abundantly more.

Gathering her shattered confidence once more, she tightened the hood around her shoulders, and pushed the door open again. There was no time for her to be delayed by a petty excuse like being concerned for your life when going into such a dangerous place. In the end, she opened them with a bang.

Attention seeking: accomplished! Not. The sound of the door bouncing off the walls barely made a dent in the abnormal and deafening cheers of the crowd. People were flying everywhere. Some hung off the ceiling's rafters at almost three stories high. Others were involved in fights; drinking, fighting, gambling and others of the like. The wide variety of appearances were eye-catching and slightly amusing.

A few, she was able to pick out via the descriptions she had been given.

There was a woman drinking a barrel of wine with several empty ones piled next to her; Cana, the notorious drinker.

Another had her nose wrapped up in a book. She had blue wavy hair and an orange ribbon pushing it back.

Next to her was a taller, buff man with long, black and spiky hair. Surprisingly, she wasn't kidding when she was told he had nails for eyebrows. It was both amusing and disturbing.

The pair must have been Levy and Gajeel.

One more she was able to see through the crowd, was a silver haired woman, wiping a glass at the bar; Mira.

Deciding it might be best to inquire publicly, she made way for the girl at the bar who would be her source of information. Ducking, dodging and sliding through and around fights and flying spells, managing to jump over rolling things, she eventually made her way to the bar.

She had managed to pick out a few more familiar characters on her journey; Juvia, Laxus, Elfman -who wasn't hard to miss- and the Raijinshu; Freed, Bixslow and Evergreen. Some more looked familiar but she wasn't able to place a name, so she dismissed them.

Sliding onto a stool with a small jump, she let her legs swing a few inches above the stool bar which she couldn't reach.

After a moment, the soft motherly voice she heard about was directed at her.

"Hey. My name's Mira. Are you new? Or do you just need help with something? You can ask me whatever you like!" She proclaimed with an enticing friendliness.

"I'm looking for someone." She spoke in a raised mutter, careful to keep quiet but also making sure she could be heard over the loud upheaval behind them. One thing she hated to do was to repeat herself.

"And who might that be?" She smiled calmly, putting down her glass and leaning closer to the bar. It was obvious her eyes were trying to peek under her hood. Mira was said to be the rather curious type, especially with relationships.

"Natsu- Natsu Dragneel." She tried to speak with the same monotone voice while shouting his identity, but she felt it falter a little. A little girlish nervousness had slipped through. Covering it with a cough, she turned her eyes away and adjusted her hood.

"Natsu...hmm...?" The girl wondered, stroking her hair from her pretty face as she scanned the guild. When she caught a familiar face, her expression brightened a little. "Gray!" she called over to a pit of men, waving her hand to signal to him to come closer.

After a few moments, a man staggered from the crowd half-naked. Surprised and embarrassed, she turned her head away. She knew quite a lot about Gray and was surprised to hear about his subconscious stripping habit. At first it sounded ridiculous. After seeing it first hand, she regretted and apologized for her doubt.

"Yeah?" He grumbled, as he pulled on his shirt and wiped the blood from his mouth.

"Have you seen Natsu?" Mira asked plainly. It seemed she had become accustomed to seeing Gray half-naked.

"No. He went somewhere after we got back from the mission this morning." Gray reported, glancing back over his shoulder at the on-going.

"It's the 28th today." A new voice interjected. Turning her head to her right, she caught sight of the famous armor and scarlet-red hair.

Unfortunately, she could only raise her hood a little or else her face would be visible.

An excitement couldn't help but bubble inside of her as she realized that she had met two out of the six members of the strongest team; Gray Fullbuster and Erza Scarlet!

"Ah, he's paying the rent-" Mira deduced before a ridiculously loud bang echoed in the guild. Even when she opened the doors with all her strength, she couldn't make a fraction of the sound that rang in her ears.

"I heard my name!" A voice roared as something ploughed through the crowd, directly heading towards the group gathered at the bar.

After people went flying like bowling pins, he had cleared his way and came into sight. Pink hair poked out in random directions. Sandals stuck to his feet, adding at least an inch or two to his height. A vest and matching pants hung onto his muscled body, and dark, onyx eyes glared forwards.

She almost gasped at the detail-for-detail version of her words, stood in front of her alive. She had described him perfectly -to the very last aspect. Even as he charged straight for Gray, her eyes stayed locked on him, not caring if the lower of her face became visible.

"What were you saying about me, ice princess?" He growled in a challenging tone -Apparently like he always did- to the innocent ice mage tugging his shirt off.

"I didn't say anything, match stick!" Gray retorted as she knew he would. And predictably, two hard gauntlets smashed on top of their heads with an unnerving force as titania broke up the fight.

"Natsu, you have a visitor." Mira alerted the boy.

"But I wasn't expecting a visitor?" Natsu moaned, completely oblivious to the girl stepping off the stool only for to be about 2/3 of the dragon slayer's height at most.

"Idiot! Don't say it while she's stood right there!" Gray scolded.

"You wanna go, twinkle toes?" Natsu growled again. Almost Deja vu worthy, Erza's gauntlet diffused their fight again.

Natsu rubbed his head sorely as he turned to face the girl at last. Closing the distance between their heights, he brought his face abnormally close to hers. She blushed with embarrassment and desperately smothered the small squeal that tried to come out. Dark eyes scowled at her hood with suspicious curiosity.

With a deep breath, she lifted her hands to pull back her hood making Natsu's face reclined. She was barely a teenager with electric blue hair sunk beneath the collar of her cloak and pale silver eyes that glared at the group full of determination. "My name is Emi. I came here ask for your help."

"Help? What for?" Gray wondered, seeing tears pricked on the younger girls eyes.

In a swift move, she bowed. "Please help me save her. Help me save Lucy!" She cried, her resolve disintegrating into a plea.

A cold silence dropped around the room.

Natsu's broken voice shattered the atmosphere, his tone low, dark and ice-cold.

"Lucy?"

Next: Chapter Two: He Still Cares

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-A-ccentric