Abandoned, Neglected, Returned

Chapter 4

Previously:

No more.

Now, it's time for change. 

Time for her to prove her worth.

Time for her to show how strong she truly is, inside and out. 

Time for her to put her foot down and tell Natsu how much he hurt her and how she got better to prove him wrong. That she isn't a liability.

It is time for Lucy Heartfilia, former heir of the Heartfilia Konzern, and celestial mage of the one and only Fairy Tail guild, to show how powerful she is. This is her time to shine, and no one is going to break her down. No one will her otherwise. 

This is a new chapter in her life, and she plans to take advantage of it.

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A month. It's been a month since Lucy left and things aren't the same in Fairy Tail. A strong chunk of their members were always away and barely interacted with anyone aside from themselves. Not that they can be blamed. Only one person has noticed her disappearance and that person was Mirajane, who noticed halfway into the month. 

Mira, like everyone else in the guild, had seen the pain that seemed to follow specific members of Fairy Tail. They were snappy, quiet, distant, and hardly around. The only  thing that separated Mira from the rest was that she was observant. A pro to being at the guild and attending to everyone rather than constantly going out on missions. 

The longing looks that Cana would give the end of the bar stool, mixed with the little she would actually drink was a big change. Happy also hung out in that spot, hanging out with his dragon slayer of a father less and less. Wendy, Charla, and Romeo were joined to the hip, not that many people were against as they constantly teased the quiet teens. Gajeel and Pantherlily were seen for no more than minutes at a time, same with Laxus and the Thunder God tribe. Juvia spent less time hovering around Gray, which he didn't mind, but he was a little concerned for her. Master Makarov was just... silent. He was an observer as well, yet his eyes showed the emotional frustration he was hiding from his 'children' along with First master Mavis who was appearing here less often than usual. 

The day she noticed, she was cleaning the glasses and gasped loudly, dropping it and putting her hands over her mouth as she looked over at the guild master- who sat in the same spot everyday-  and ignored the concerned calls that came from Elfman and Lisanna. "Tell me it's not true... Tell me she's still here" she whispered out, as if there were hands on her throat that restricted her from talking loud. Without even sparing her a glance, Makarov gave her a simple nod of the head and took a sip of his drink. Mira ran out of the guild in tears, pushing everyone away that went to comfort her who hadn't realized. 

An hour had gone by when Happy went over to her, finding her in the woods behind the guild. "It's okay Mira... She promised she would be back, and she never breaks her promises." She pulled him into a tight hug and squeezed him, bawling. Her emotions got the best of the little blue exceed, and he was soon crying with her. 

"But- but I didn't get to say bye" was the only intelligible thing that Happy could grasp. 

After her cry fest, Mira had given everyone else in the guild the most passive aggressive responses, quips, and comments. She refused to tell anyone who hadn't figured it out, not even Levy who was hurt every time she made eye contact with Mira and saw betrayal written as clear as day. The takeover mage recalled the morning Gajeel flipped out on her for no apparent reason, and forgave him for the outburst. If she were her old self, she would be no better now that she knows the reason. That was more than likely the day she left, she concluded.