Twelve Gifts

Summary: "One letter and one gift per month, and in December I'll give you your twelfth gift in person. Just think of it as the least amount of gifts left, the closer Happy and I will be to returning to you."

A/N: This takes place right after the FT Manga Chapter 416, so don't read if you haven't gotten to that point yet and don't want any spoilers!

PLEASE REVIEW! FLAMES WILL NOT BE TOLERATED HERE!

Chapter One - January: The First Gift

"Happy and I will go on a journey while training. And we'll be back in about a year or so. So take care of everybody alright?

See ya Lucy!

Natsu and Happy"

The letter fluttered to the ground as Lucy dashed out of her apartment.

"What the hell?! What are they thinking, going on a trip like that?!" Lucy yelled out loud as large tears rolled down her cheeks. "If they did something like that… -sniffle- If they did something… -sob- I'd be so lonely…! Idiots…"

…

Natsu and Happy quickly made their way down the streets of Magnolia. They turned around to look at their nearly destroyed city.

"Sorry, you guys!" Natsu said with his usual grin. "I'll be a lot stronger when I come back… Strong enough to protect all of you!"

"Aye!" Happy agreed. "Wait for me Charla! I'll be back for you and give you lots of fish!"

Natsu turned around and Happy took to the air as they continued on.

"Natsuuuuu! Happyyyyyy!" A familiar cry stopped both of them in their tracks though.

Natsu turned around. His eyes widened a little to see Lucy running after them. She was crying and nearly tripping over herself in distraught. He reached out to her and she flew into his arms.

"YOU IDIOTS! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME BEHIND! YOU CAN'T!" She wailed. "I DON'T WANNA BE ALONE AGAIN!"

"Lucy…" He murmured.

He tried to pull back to look at her, but she wouldn't have it. Her grip around his neck was strong and he didn't have the heart to force her to let go. So he picked her up in his arms and started walking again. Tear were rolling down Happy's face and he found his own lips trembling.

"Happy we're going back home for a bit." He told his exceed partner.

"Aye…" Happy mumbled as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

…

Their place was clean for once; having known Lucy would be coming by here often for something Natsu had planned for her; and he also didn't want to force her to clean up after them knowing she'd already be really upset enough as it is while they're gone.

Natsu set Lucy down on the sofa and quickly grabbed the second letter he left for her off the table. He hid it in one of the pockets in his backpack.

Lucy kept her head down in an attempt to hide her tears. Happy hopped up onto the couch and settled on Lucy's lap.

"Lushie… Wanna bite of my fish?" He offered, holding up his half eaten fish.

Lucy slowly shook her head no and patted his head as thanks. She glanced at Natsu when she felt him sit beside her.

"Ya know… Aquarius' key broke…" She said after awhile. "I won't be able to see her anymore…"

"That really mean fish woman?" Happy exclaimed.

Lucy would have corrected him that she was a mermaid again, but now what not the time. Besides she had started crying all over again.

"What do you mean?" Natsu asked in shock.

He knew more than anyone how much Lucy's spirits meant to her. Not to mention she had been with Aquarius the longest of all the spirits she had a contract with.

"In order to save everyone from Alegria… I had to break Aquarius' key to summon the Celestial Spirit King. He in turn released everyone from that spell." Lucy whispered.

"Dammit… I'm so sorry, Lucy." Natsu said.

He scooted closer and wrapped an arm around her. She leaned against him while hugging Happy and burst into fresh set of tears for the lost of her first friend.

"Don't leave me too…"

Her words were barely audible, but Natsu heard her with his Dragon Slayer hearing.

"Lucy, I…" Natsu trailed off when she abruptly looked up at him with a desperate expression.

"Please…!" She begged.

Happy looked from Natsu to Lucy as the Fire Dragon Slayer stared down at her for a long time.

"…Alright." He finally said.

Lucy brightened considerably.

"Really?" She asked.

"…Yeah." He said hesitantly.

"Thank you…!" Lucy cried hugging both her boys closely.

…

It was the middle of the night when Natsu got up from where he was laying on the couch. He walked over to where Lucy was sleeping in his hammock and looked at her face. She was smiling.

'Must be having a good dream.' He thought with a small smile. But it disappeared at his next thought. 'I'm so sorry Luce. But if you're with us, I'll worry more about you than concentrating on training… I have to get stronger to protect everyone…to protect you and Happy. Please forgive me.'

He carefully placed something under her pillow and bent down to place a feather light kiss on her forehead. He leaned back and held his breath nervously when she shifted a bit.

"Natsu…" She sighed happily.

He smiled softly, and waited another moment, listening to her quiet breathing and stepped away when it seemed she was still asleep. He hastily wrote another letter and placed it on the table for her to find in the morning. He shouldered his backpack and blanket, picked up Happy-who was also still asleep and with one last look at his sleeping blond, stepped out of the house. He sighed reluctantly as he silently closed the door behind him and started walking.

…

That morning Lucy woke up to find Natsu and Happy missing. Her heart was heavy as she looked around the small house in distress. Large tears rolled down her cheeks when she finally spotted another letter on the table. She picked it up with trembling hands and opened it.

"I'm sorry for leaving without you when I said you could come. But I'd be too worried about you. Please understand, Luce…

Anyways we have something for you to do to pass the time until we return. We've hidden eleven gifts for you around our house and property. Don't try to look for them because every month we'll be sending a letter to our house for you with a hint to where a gift is hiding. One letter and one gift per month, and in December I'll give you your twelfth gift in person. Just think of it as the least amount of gifts left, the closer Happy and I will be to returning to you.

Don't worry! We'll be back before you know it, Luce!

Natsu and Happy

PS. Hint #1-January

Your first gift is something very precious to me, but I hope you look after it for me and it helps you feel a little less lonely while we're away from each other! Look around the hammock!"

Lucy sniffled and wiped her tears away. She placed the letter on the table and walked over to the hammock. She looked under it and all around it before finally moving the blanket and pillow aside.

She gasped and became teary eyed again as she picked up the familiar scaly scarf that Igneel had given Natsu. She quickly wrapped it around her neck and buried her nose into the fabric. It smelled like smoke and wilderness…like him.

"It does help a little, Natsu… But I still miss you two." Lucy mumbled sadly. "I wish you hadn't left me behind…"

A/N: So… This is based off a dream I had the very night I read chapter 416. And as you can see this fanfic takes place right after said chapter. Please be warned I have a bad habit of procrastinating and I get writer's block easily, so chapters may not be uploaded quickly. As you have guessed there will be twelve chapters (one gift per chapter); and also, chapters probably won't be very long. Short and cute, basically.

Also if anyone has any ideas for gifts (I already have January (obviously, February, July, August and December) and/or places within Natsu and Happy's house/property, that would be a huge help!

I know some of you are probably thinking-or screaming, "WHY ISN'T SHE RE-UPLOADING S.K.Y.?!" Well, I'm still working on it. I plan to finish it completely before re-uploading it though.