Lucy ran through the crowded streets of Magnolia, her heart pounding in her ears.

'It has to be wrong, there's no way he'd ever let anything keep him down like that.' She thought as she reached her destination. She threw open the door to the Fairy Tail guild and was met by a somber sight. The wizards inside were silent and staring down at the tables. She scanned the room in disbelief.

"W-Where -" she panted, she couldn't seem to catch her breath.

"Lucy, come sit down." Erza requested softly, she gestured to a chair across from her. The blonde mage made her way over to her friend and sat down.

"Erza, what's going on, what happened to -"

"Natsu is in the infirmary. No one really knows how it happened, but from the information given to us- Lucy he's not doing very well. He was hurt very badly and it was a long way to get home, he developed a fever before we arrived. There's a good chance that he won't -" Erza couldn't finish her sentence, instead, she bowed her head once more.

"Can't Wendy do something?"

"She tried, Happy refuses to leave his side. Lisanna's been trying to talk to him. She hopes to get him to wake up, 'talking him out of it ' she called it."

"This can't be happening, I mean Natsu's one of the strongest wizards in our guild. I don't understand it at all." Lucy said.

"I know, of all the times I've teamed up with him nothing keeps him down. Right now the best thing we can do is to keep our thoughts with him."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, it's Natsu, flame brain gets through these things just fine. You can't count him out just yet." Gray said coolly. Lucy smiled sadly.

"yeah, I guess he's been through some pretty tough situations and he always seems to make it without any lasting problems. This shouldn't be too different."

"Natsu's strong, there's no reason to believe he's not going to get better, given his record, I'd say that it's a pretty safe bet that he's going to be fine. It must have just been a shock that's all." Mira added. It wasn't long before the guild hall was returning to normal, they seemed to find comfort in the words spoken by the Salamander's team. Lucy however needed to see him. His words would be the proof she needed to calm her fears. She needed to look into his eyes and see the Natsu she knew, the one who could do almost anything no matter how hopeless the situation seemed.

"Hey Erza, do you think I could go up and see him for a while?" Lucy asked at last. The red haired wizard stood up from the table and turned.

"Follow me." She said leading her friend away from the crowd and toward the infirmary. She could still feel her heart pounding in her chest and she hoped she could keep it together for just a little while longer.