Hey everyone! This is my first fanfic and I don't really know how this thing works yet ^^ so I hope u all can help this newbie here XDD. I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS STORY! AND PLZ REVIEW! :P Well, I see many ppl do disclaimers, so yeah...

I don't own Fairy Tail, or any of the characters in it! :P

It was after the Grand Magic Tournament. Fairy Tail had miraculously come first, despite their horrible performance on the first day. Everybody in the guild was celebrating, laughing and drinking; even Lucy managed to slip out of the infirmary to join in. They were worried, asking her if she should be out and about so soon, but she just laughed it off, stating she couldn't miss the celebrating. A few hours later, all the guild members were either on the ground, sleeping, or had already headed home, except for the celestial mage and Master Makarov. Lucy was in deep thought, which made the old man curious. "What's wrong, Lucy?" he asked her, snapping her out of her trance. She looked around at the sleeping figures, and didn't answer for a while. "I want to get stronger." she finally whispered.

"Ah, this is about your fight with Minerva, isn't it?"

"Mhm. I couldn't do anything, while she continuously beat me up like that. If she wanted, she could have easily made me come last. We could have lost."

"Lucy, you are a strong mage already."

"Yeah, I know. But I want to get stronger, and protect my nakama."

Master Makarov sighed. He could see the determination in her eyes. He couldn't stop her now.

"That's why, Master, I need to go train. I'm leaving tomorrow."

The short man hesitated for a second, and then replied, "That's quite soon. How long are you leaving?"

"For two years, maybe? I plan on travelling around Fiore."

"I see. Well, good luck."

"Thanks, Master. I'll tell everyone before I leave tomorrow." And with that, the celestial mage got up and left the guild, probably to go pack up some things. The Master sighed again and retreated into his office.

A certain iron dragon slayer opened his eyes and looked at his little companion. "Bunny-girl's gonna leave, huh? You wanna tell 'em?" The exceed crossed his arms in front of him and stared at the where the Master and Lucy had their conversation a few minutes ago. "Nah. Lucy said she would tell them herself." Gajeel just shrugged and got off the dirty guild floor. "Whatever." was his only reply. With that, the both of them left as well.

and then…

The guild was back to normal when Lucy entered. She giggled at the sight of Natsu and Gray fighting, but Erza was too happy munching on her strawberry cake to notice. Happy was asking Lisanna how to woo Charle, Mira serving at the bar with her usual cheery smile, Elfman yet again spouting some nonsense about manliness, and Cana drinking her 5th (!) barrel of beer. She could just see Levy's blue hair poking out from the massive book she was reading. Gee, how she was going to miss all of them. She walked up to the blissful Erza and shouted, "Hey, Erza! I would like to talk to you about something." Now, she had the whole guilds' attention. Some even gasped at her braveness for interrupting the scarlet haired mage while she was enjoying her cake. She even heard Happy whisper, "Oh, I see… Lucy is so brave… She dares to interrupt ERZA…"

Lucy silently cursed at the cat, "You damn neko! You're making me nervous!" She took a deep breath and continued, "Actually, I was planning to tell each of you separately, but now that everyone's listening, I might as well tell you all…" She chuckled nervously, "You see… I wanted to get stronger, and so I was going to go train for a couple of years…" There was silence. She counted in her head, "5, 4, 3…2…1…" "WHAT?!" Lucy giggled at their funny reactions as they bombarded her with questions. Levy, Mira and Lisanna squeezed the life out of her with their group hug, and Happy started clinging to her like their was no tomorrow. Natsu and Gray were mainly asking questions and shaking her, saying it wasn't a funny joke, and Erza had dropped her cake in shock (when she recovered she started demanding for explanations). When the guild finally calmed down (kinda), after what seemed like hours, Lucy explained it was only two years. Team Natsu was refusing to let her go, and she was starting to worry about missing her train. "Relax, guys! It's not like I'm gonna be gone forever, (Happy sobbed even more loudly at the word 'forever' ) its just a while! Treat it like I'm gone on a very long solo mission, okay? Gildarts hardly stays in the guild at all, and he goes on 100 year-long missions!" she said, trying to soothe the crying cat. "B-but… Lucy, we're a team, aren't we? Don't leave us, you weirdo!" Natsu pleaded, looking at her with puppy dog eyes. "Aye! Don't leave us!" Happy repeated, staring at the blonde with the same pleading eyes. "Geez…" Lucy sighed, they weren't making it any easier. She prayed someone come help her in her situation, hoping that someonewould understand her decision. She was surprised at who came to her rescue, though.

"Let bunny-girl go. She's doing it 'cuz she want ta protect you guys as well. Accept her decision." Gajeel said as he walked into the guild. "Gajeel!" many people gasped, shocked at his support for the determined girl. Lucy narrowed her eyes when she heard 'bunny-girl' but ignored the comment as someone finally understood why she was doing this. "Wait… aren't you surprised at all?" a guild member yelled out to him. Gajeel smirked, "Me? I knew since yesterday," he looked in Lucy's direction, "You should find better places than the guild hall to discuss important matters like that, bunny-girl." She glared at him angrily, and replied, "How was I supposed to know you weren't asleep? AND I'VE GOT A NAME!"

The guild laughed as the two glared daggers at each other. Erza put a hand on Lucy's shoulder and said in a serious tone, "I understand, Lucy. I was such a bad friend, not letting you do what you felt you needed to do. Please, hit me will you?" Everyone sweatdropped at that and Lucy gave a nervous chuckle. "Th-there's no need, Erza…"

After that, everyone slowly started accepting Lucy's decision, and held a goodbye party for her. Happy had managed to stop crying after Lucy promised him a bag of fish when she returned. Natsu and Gray both reluctantly agreed to let her train by herself, and Levy demanded she got her book finished. The blonde-haired mage laughed and chattered along with her nakama (her backpack shunned to a corner of the guild) for one last time before she would leave. All was good until Master came in and kindly reminded Lucy of something. "Hey Lucy, why are you still here? Aren't you going to be late?" Lucy looked at the clocked and yelled, "GAH! I'M GONNA MISS MY TRAINNNNNNNN!" She grabbed her backpack and ran towards the doors, her family closely trailing behind. She could hear Erza blaming herself, and Natsu yelling about how fun this was. People in the streets of Magnolia would turn and stare at the mob of people chasing Lucy. It was a very strange sight.