The Celestial Sky

Inadequacy

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. I only own my OCs. All canon places and characters belong to Hiro Mashima.

It had been a month ever since they had returned from Edolas.

The guild was as bright and lively as ever, even more so now that their beloved Animal Soul Takeover Mage had returned from her alleged death. Lucy couldn't blame them, of course. Losing a comrade so suddenly must've been hard on them.

As per usual, most of the guild members had crowded around the poor white haired girl en masse, some interrogating her about Edolas, others, still in disbelief, wanted to make sure she really was alive and not an illusion or a trap placed by an enemy guild.

Elfman was trying to ward off the crowd, however his efforts were in vain no matter how hard he tried. It wasn't until Natsu started using brute force to push them away that the crowd was willing to disperse. "You okay, Lis?" he asked the disoriented girl, who looked rather uncomfortable from all the attention she was receiving. "Thanks, Natsu," Lisanna smiled to express her gratitude, a small blush creeping onto her face. "I appreciate your concern."

Mirajane had told Lucy about the close relationship between Natsu and Lisanna. It was adorable puppy love in the past, but now that Lisanna had returned, Lucy couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Lucy quickly tamped those thoughts down. What was she saying? She wasn't jealous of Lisanna! She didn't like Natsu that way!

Did she?

Lucy didn't have much time to ponder about it as Natsu and Lisanna both came over to the table she was sitting in.

"Hey, Luce! Wanna go on a mission with the two of us? Erza and the stripper went on a job together, Happy's gone off chasing Carla somewhere and I think it'd be boring if just me and Lisanna went on the mission. So, you wanna tag along with us?" Natsu asked. Lisanna smiled at her, waiting for her answer expectantly. "Sure! I'd love to go on a mission with Fairy Tail's talk of the month," Lucy nodded, making Lisanna chuckle lightly.

"You make me sound like some kind of celebrity or something," Lisanna giggled. "I mean, you kinda are, in a sense," Lucy shrugged. "If you girls are done, I kinda wanna go on the mission?" Natsu said impatiently. Lisanna rolled her eyes. "Impatient as always, huh, Natsu? You haven't changed at all ever since I left," she said.

'As always.'

'You haven't changed at all.'

Lisanna really did know Natsu better than her. As expected of her, as the two had known each other far longer than Natsu knew the blonde. "Lucy? Is something the matter?" Lisanna asked, noticing the worried and rather frustrated expression Lucy was showing. Natsu arched an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Oh, it's nothing! Don't worry! Now, come on! Let's go on the job!" Lucy exclaimed, quick to change the topic. Lisanna looked unconvinced, but said nothing more on the matter. As the three of them walked towards the door, Natsu read out the job request.

"A vicious beast has been rampaging our town for the past week! Please come as soon as possible!" He read aloud. "It's in the town of Cedar," Lucy said. "Where on Earthland is that?" Natsu wondered out loud, his eyebrows scrunching together in confusion. "Beats me," Lucy shrugged. "I'm sure we can find it through the map in the train station," Lisanna said.

"Train... Station...?" Natsu immediately felt the taste of bile at the back of his throat as the image of the malicious vehicle appeared in his mind. His knees started to give out as he almost collapsed onto the floor. "Already?" Lisanna laughed, Lucy joining in. "At least make it out of the guild hall first," Lucy grabbed Natsu's hand and pulled the boy out of the door.