Rei-chu: This was supposed to be my first ever one-shot on Fairy Tail (which I do not own! XD) but it might get extra long and might take sooo long before I finish it, so... here it is, chopped into short chappies instead! ^_^ (I hope this turns out for the better of it… :o) This came to life because I only wanted Lucy and Natsu to ride a roller coaster together in an attempt to overcome his motion sickness~ :3 i love roller coasters~ nyaaa~ and then, luckily, after about a month of having this childish idea, some more ideas struck me out of the blue, and tada! Here you go! I hope you enjoy it! :D

The Cure to His Motion Sickness

Chapter 1: Taking the Initiative

Lucy stared sympathetically at her limp and bruised teammate. He was half asleep and half stopping his stomach contents from pouring out. She then sighed for the Nth time this day and said, "Natsu, when will you ever get used to transportation?"

The three of them, including Happy, were inside a carriage on their way back to Magnolia. Natsu took his usual spot – he was lying on his stomach, occupying the whole seat at the right. He was experiencing his usual motion sickness, but his bruises and wounds were the ones that were bothering her. The mission they just took ended successfully, but Natsu had quite a good beating from the platoon of bandits they encountered on their way back.

##############Flashback##############

It happened on their train ride to Magnolia earlier. Some masked men suddenly declared their control over the whole bunch of connected carts. They were demanding money from every single passenger, threatening to shoot anyone who resists with their magic shot gun. Unfortunately for the bandits, there were two Fairy Tail mages and a Fairy Tail Exceed on board. These three stood up against the enemies and brought hope back to the frightened passengers.

Unfortunately for the good guys, however, there was the underlying fact that the train was in motion. Normally, even a hundred bandits would be a piece of cake for Natsu Dragneel, but when the venue of the fight becomes something like a train on the run, the odds are messed up.

To prove this right, after introducing himself as a Fairy Tail mage, Natsu's motion sickness, which he forgot for a minute there, came and attacked him again. He fell nauseous on the floor after countless attempts to stand up and land his crooked attacks on the enemies. As a result, the gang bombarded him with magical shots and physical attacks, rendering him motionless on the floor.

It hurt Lucy to watch Natsu get kicked and thrown away helplessly. She wanted to yell and scold the men, 'How dare you bully the sick! Fight me instead!' but she knew more than anyone that doing so would only hurt his pride.

She decided Happy to try and lift Natsu, even if they were inside the low-ceiling train. But they were outnumbered to begin with, so even Happy had his own share of opponents to face. He was obviously having a hard time, too. He only had fishes to hit the enemies with and he couldn't fly past the bandits without getting swapped back to where he had been.

Lucy kept on thinking of ways to help her partner as she fought alongside the Spirit of the Bull she just called out. She was shoved far from her nakama as their fight began, so she couldn't help him personally even if she badly wanted to. She had also considered having Horologium lock up Natsu so he could recover his composure without getting hurt, but she immediately realized that Horologium would still be standing on the same moving train. Natsu would still feel the motion even inside the Spirit of the Clock. Running out of ideas, she just brought out another golden key and called forth the Spirit of the Lion. Shutting her eyes tight, she requested, "Please appear beside Natsu, Loke!" Then with a puff of smoke, an orange-haired young man did appear beside the pink-haired one. She asked him to assist her teammate - or protect him, rather, knowing that the leader of the Zodiac is agile enough to fight and defend someone else at the same time.

The fight went on. Loke and Taurus were undoubtedly stronger than Lucy and Happy in the aspect of physical combat, but they didn't run out of enemies no matter how many they knock down. This has gotten suspicious for Lucy, so she looked around as fast yet as carefully as she could, hoping to find any useful observation. And there, behind the busy Loke, she witnessed how one of the bandits multiplied and produced 10 copies of himself after chanting some sort of a spell along with a few hand movements. "Guys, they're using cloning magic!" she quickly stated, thinking that awareness of the enemies' trick could somehow help them win.

'I don't know much about that kind of magic but perhaps if we find the real ones among the group and knock them down, the clones would also disappear,' she thought. This made her realize that they needed someone with excellent senses to distinguish which was which, and the perfect candidate was none other than the dizzy and nauseous Natsu.

There was still an impending problem, though. Lucy has used up a lot of magical power on their original mission, so she knew that opening two more gates at the same time would drain what remains in her in just a couple of minutes. More reason to revive her partner fast!

'I must stop this train!' she decided. "Taurus, I have to do something. Please take over here."

"Leave it to me, Lucy-san!" Taurus replied before she ran towards the front side of the train. It was really lucky for her that they were on that side.

When she reached the door and went out of the cart, she gripped her Fleuve d'etoiles tightly, praying that the only weapon she had could smash and break the metallic joint that links them to the carts in front. She took a deep breath, 'I have to do this right for Natsu and everyone!' and in one strong blow, she managed to whip the joint accurately and make a big crack on it. The joint broke apart as the crack worsened with the train's motion, thus releasing their cart and the rest behind it from the front carts that controlled their movement. "Yatta!" she cheered, as the cart started to slow down.

She headed back inside, and yelled as soon as her teammate was within earshot, "Natsu! The train is stopping now!"

Natsu's ears twitched up with the news. He could feel that the train was decelerating, indeed. With this, he pushed himself and struggled to get up on his feet, leaning on some seats for support. When the train came to a halt, a smirk made its way on his lips and his body ignited. "Thanks, Lucy. I really don't know what would happen to me without you." He grinned at her, as if telling her that he's going to take care of the rest now.

His statement and the way he smiled at her made her cheeks warm. She just returned a smile and nodded, thinking, 'So he can transmit his fire like that now?' She blushed even more at her own joke as she looked away.

As expected of the fire dragon slayer, he took care of everything and brought down the enemies cluster by cluster. He remembered hearing something about cloning magic from Lucy a while ago, so he focused on identifying the real ones from their clones. There was no need for him to do it, though, because his destructive nature would be enough to take them all down.

He cleaned up their cart and then the rest behind them. After beating all the enemies present, he went to search for his partner, Lucy, knowing so well that she's on the verge of getting drained by now. He found her in one of the rear carts; she must have fought those he missed in his sweep. She was seated on the floor and resting, with Loke kneeling down and checking up on her. He quickly understood that Taurus has poofed back to the Spirit World and Loke was using his own magic power now to remain by her side.

"Loke, take care of Lucy. I'll handle the others in the front carts," he said, earning a smug look from the spirit.

"You need not tell me, Natsu. I'm going to protect My Love till I die," Loke replied, smirking confidently.

"Spirits don't die," Lucy muttered, rolling her eyes but still smiling. "And don't call me weird nicknames!" she exclaimed weakly. She then faced the dragon slayer and said, "Don't get dizzy again, Natsu."

He grinned toothily at her and replied, "Don't worry, Happy and I know how to deal with a moving train from the outside." He then faced the blue cat and said, "Let's go, Happy!"

"Aye!"

And the two flew up and out of the train through one of the fresh holes on the ceiling. Lucy smiled half-heartedly as she looked at the mess in front of her. "I should've warned him not to end up destroying the whole train instead."

##############End Flashback##############

Lucy sighed yet again, thinking while looking at her pitiful teammate. 'Even if we won earlier, he still got battered when he couldn't fight...'

'Almost every mission requires us to ride a vehicle. It must be really hard for him...'

She smiled seeing Happy comfort Natsu by patting his back lightly as the boy lied on his swirling stomach. 'Wendy had been a miracle from the heavens, being able to give him temporary aid against motion sickness. But who would've thought that it was short-lasted; Troia doesn't work on him anymore.'

Her face creased with worry. 'There are even times when his motion sickness endangers him, just like what happened earlier… Back then in the fight with Oracion Seis on top of Nirvana, he couldn't struggle against Brain that he was getting dragged and kidnapped helplessly. He would have been recruited by the enemy if we didn't come across them. In the Jiggle Butt Gang case, he was also held captive by the trio. I don't know if those guys had hurt him in any way other than making a foul smell, but those instances should be avoided! We have to find another solution to his motion sickness!'

######################################################

When they got back in town, Lucy has gotten busy that Natsu noticed her half-days and absences from the guild. Even trespassing into her apartment with Happy has gotten boring because she wasn't there to be surprised and to scold them. On the occasions when they decided to wait for her, she came home late that they fell asleep while waiting. She was kind enough to let them continue sleeping on the floor, but the downside he was bothered about was that they didn't have time to play and hang out together anymore!

He was able to see her a few times these past five boring days, but the only words that he got from her were "Sorry Natsu, I have something important to do. I'll just see you later, okay?" and "Not now, I'm preparing something. Maybe next time" and the best was "Oh, hi Natsu! See yah!" Damn replies.

He didn't think stalking on her would be a good idea. He could tell from the way she turned him down that she was really serious with whatever it is she was doing. She would just get angry if he would stick his nose into those matters that she wouldn't talk with him about. But curiosity and utter boredom were killing him! He couldn't even take a job because his team is not complete without her. Furthermore, the thought that she has a problem and she wouldn't share it with him was starting to irritate him, too.

He asked Happy what he thinks, but the cat only said, "Lucy seems energetic to me; she was always running out to the guild door whenever we see her there. And besides, she cries when she has a scary problem and slacks off at the guild when she's bothered by something weird. Maybe she's just busy with her novel." Well, Happy has a point there. Natsu, himself, was familiar with Lucy's habits, anyway. And he knew that she was a weirdo. But still, he couldn't help but be curious.

So one time, he asked Mirajane if she knew what kept his teammate busy these days. Lucy always hangs around the guild bar when she has a problem anyway, so if she did, maybe Mira knew what it was. However, the barmaid only smiled knowingly at him, saying, "You'll soon find out, Natsu." She giggled as she filled his glass with fruit juice. "Lucy is such a sweet girl, you're so lucky to have her as your partner."

A confused expression was plastered on Natsu's face the whole time he was with Mira. What was she talking about? He was only asking what kept his teammate occupied and Mira just kept on praising Lucy and teasing him like there was something he didn't know that was going on. It was even more confusing! But at least, it seems like Lucy didn't have any serious problem at all since Mira kept on smiling and giggling. With that, Natsu was relieved a bit.

The day passed boringly again, and he was even expecting that tomorrow would be the same. Ironically, the day he wasn't looking forward to turned out to be the day he was waiting for. While he was slouching at the guild's bar the next day, lighting up the tip of his fingers one by one and then blowing the fire away in a repetitive cycle all out of sheer boredom, something unexpected happened...

"Thumb... Fuu~ Pinky... Fuu~ Index... Fuu~ Ring... Fuu~ Middle-"

"Natsu!~" he heard a familiar voice cut his mumblings. He realized that his dragon slayer senses had been turned off that he only perceived this familiar sweet scent when its owner was already behind him. He quickly turned around and his eyes grew wide with delight, seeing the girl he missed. "Lucyyy!"

He found himself jumping out of his seat and about to hug her out of mere happiness. Good thing her reflexes were fast enough to stop him by the face. He would have been flying towards the bar's shelves, otherwise, for going out of character for a second.

"Lucy, what have you been up to?" he asked immediately. "You were always out. We haven't done a job this week! We're going to starve to death!" he exclaimed exaggeratedly, fire coming out of his mouth and his arms flailing up and down on either side.

She just smiled at him, amused at how cute he just acted. Then her eyes lit up as an idea came to her. She faked a pout and muttered, "I was angry with you, but you didn't notice it."

His jaw dropped to the floor. Did he hear it right? So he was the reason afterall? What? What kind of a crappy joke was that? Wait, she did leave whenever he arrived at the guild... But he doesn't even remember doing something bad to her! :o

Or maybe it was something he didn't do? Shit! What day is it? Was it her birthday the other day? Yesterday? Waaaaa! He knew he should have replaced his 7-year old calendar sooner!

"I was just kidding, silly!" Her voice disturbed his train of thoughts. She burst out laughing afterwards, saying, "You should have seen how you looked like! Your eyes were big, your nosetrills were flaring, your eyebrows were clashing..."

He grunted in response and folded his arms on his chest. "Very funny, Lucy."

"Oh come on! Can't we joke around like the usual and not get angry?" She nudged him with her upper arm.

"Tch." He was still upset, his face turning away from her. "You got me worried you know... Being too busy with stuff I didn't know and gone wherever you should be."

"Worried?" she repeated with a soft voice, somewhat surprised.

"No- I meant- annoyed!" he corrected with some difficulty.

"Aww, sorry about that, I just had to do something." He could see through the corner of his eyes that she was smiling apologetically. She then tilted her head to where his face was directed to make her apology more effective, but he turned further away, trying to hide his face which was weirdly feeling a bit hotter.

"Hey, you're blushing!" she declared, pointing a finger at him.

"Blushing? What are you talking about?" he denied with all his might.

She giggled. "The fierce salamander blushed, that's cute, hahaha!"

He puffed a cheek for a second, the way Lucy does sometimes. "So what's up? Why were you looking for me?" he asked, changing the topic.

"Before that, where's Happy?" she cheerfully replied. "I have something fun for us to do." The grin she was wearing was sending shivers down his spine. He could sense that she had some sort of a Lucy-weird plan on her mind, so he pointed to Happy's location with his hand trembling. His face was a mixture of aversion and curiosity that she couldn't help but snicker. He knew Lucy's idea of fun was either reading some boring books -all texts, no pictures, damn- or shopping and making him carry only the non-edible stuff which sucks.

######################################################

"WHAT?" Natsu's voice echoed throughout the whole guild, making everyone glance at him. His hands just slammed on the table as he pushed his face closer to Lucy, who was seated across him and Happy.

"I said, Happy and I will train you to overcome your motion sickness!" Lucy stated, her grin never fading.

"We are?" Happy was confused.

"T-train?~" He repeated, voice breaking at the end. He sat down again, crossing his arms on his chest. "And how are we going to do that?" His left eyebrow rose up with doubt, but he was starting to foresee where this was heading, giving him a tinge of horror somewhere in his stomach.

"By following these!" She gleefully shoved a stapled bunch of papers onto his face. He reluctantly took it and browsed through the first page wearing a skeptical look.

"Natsu's Motion Sickness Training and Solution-Finding Program!" he read the enthusiastic and colorful title with an uninterested tone. "The title's too long," he commented nonchalantly, still wearing that uninterested expression. "Tips to avoid motion sickness," he read the heading of the long list on the first page and skimmed through the rest. "Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah. Boring~"

"Hey! I tried to make it less boring for you," she retorted, flipping the pages for him to see. "The list is just hard to illustrate, but the others, I managed to," she stated, smiling proudly.

He saw colorful doodles blending in with the text on the following sheets. They caught his interest indeed. There was a drawing of him and Happy riding a carriage, another one where the three of them were riding a train, another one where they are each on a horse, and some more he couldn't define in one glance. He was about to smile at how thoughtful his teammate has been for making this interesting enough for him, but when realization hit him, his smile retreated. It was replaced by a horrified look instead. "We're going to do all these?" he pointed forcefully on the group of papers, almost making a hole through it.

She quickly grabbed it from him and hugged it sentimentally as she scolded him, "Don't burn it, Natsu! I spent days completing this great plan~"

"But- But-" He tried to reach for the papers. "We're going to ride th-those things?" He turned nauseous like the usual but tried to resist, covering his mouth.

"Lucy, you're so mean to Natsu~" Happy whined, embracing the head his dragon slayer partner to protect him from her.

"No…" She sweatdropped and smiled sardonically. She started explaining, as if talking to kids in kindergarten, "Guys, we're going to do all these in hope of curing Natsu's motion sickness." The word 'cure' seemed to have caught the dramatic duo's attention so she continued, a sneaky smile making its way onto her lips. "According to my research, there are cases where trauma and phobia are cured by therapy, so if we-" She stopped when she saw the clueless looks on their faces.

"Throw muh (my) what?" asked Natsu in a protective tone, not wanting to throw away any of his cherished mission souvenirs at home.

"Foe be... ah?" asked Happy, thinking along the line of monster enemies magically turning into fish.

"Trauma and Phobia!" Lucy exclaimed, eyes squinted in irritation. She then sighed, knowing patience is a requirement when dealing with these two. "Those are like... things that scare a person. For instance, Natsu's scared of transportation because he couldn't handle it. And therapy means uhm, some sort of treatment done repetitively to somehow cure or recover from something."

"Oooohhhhh~" the two chorused in amazement.

"Let's put it like this," Lucy's got a good idea. "Remember how Wendy's Troia stopped working on you, Natsu?" He nodded. "Charle said that it must've been because of over-using it. Your body has developed immunity to Troia so it didn't work last time." The two nodded, looking at her intently. "So the point is, if we expose you to a lot of transportation, it is possible that your body would develop immunity to it as well. It's just like getting used to doing something and then forming a habit. In that case, you wouldn't be affected by transportation anymore!"

Natsu's face lit up. He only paid attention to the last sentence, apparently.

"But..." Happy muttered dejectedly, "When Natsu's motion sickness gets cured, he won't need me anymore to fly him around..." He then burst out crying. "Natsu won't need me! I will have no use to him anymore!~"

"Happy," Natsu called, patting the cat's head to comfort him. He then explained with serious voice and expression, "You're my nakama, not my transportation. I don't need you because you can fly; I need you because you are my nakama." The grin he flashed became Happy's cue to dash to his chest to cry tears of joy.

Lucy smiled and took some time to watch the two. She really admired how Natsu treasures his friends and how he openly expresses it. Not all people are like that. She felt lucky to have met someone like him. She found herself smiling wider and enjoying the music which was Natsu's handsome laughter- Wait! Did she just thought handsome? She quickly awoke from her reverie and gave a follow-up, disturbing the emotional moment of the two. "And besides, guys, this is for the better of Natsu. Having motion sickness hinders his movements even in the most dangerous situations, and this puts him in danger itself. We don't want that to happen, do we?"

The two nodded firmly, clenching a determined fist in front of their chest.

"So we're going to give this training our full force, right?" Lucy enticed, raising a fist in the air.

"Yeah, I'm all fired up!" Natsu raised a fist as well and then turned to Happy, grinning. "We're going to beat motion sickness, right Happy?"

"Aye!" the cat raised his fist/paw as well.

####################TO BE CONTINUED####################

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Rei-chu: Ha-ho~ *waves with two hands* You've reached the ToBeContinued Line, congratulations! XD Thank you so much for reading! \(^o^)/ I hope it entertained you somehow ^_^ Now, may I ask… What do you think of this start? ^_^ Are they in character? ^_^ What do you think will happen in their 'training'? :p Please tell me what you thought and felt while reading, ehehehe ^-^ and if you have ideas that could be added to Natsu's training and solution-finding program (which will soon be revealed), don't hesitate to tell me, hahaha XD the Review button/link is just a few centimeters from here~~ :p Thanks again! Ja ne! ^.^