A/N: I really recently got into Natsu x Lucy, Sting x Lucy and maybe even Rogue x Lucy. (I don't even know) So aside from the mostly friendship-based fanfiction '101 Days and 100 Nights' (as of now, at least), I decided to start another one; this one concentrated more on the genre of romance. Please enjoy, Memories of Reunion!
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail but I do own the story plot, the character development, and the new arcs that will be introduced. I have only used Hiro Mashima's characters and story settings as a base. Thank you!
MEMORY X: Prologue
Written By: tsuruii
Words: 2,920
Date Released: March 4, 2013
? POV
I woke up with my mouth dry, my head pounding, and my eyes blinded by a bright, white light. I could hear my heart beat loudly, physically feeling the blood rush to my head, then retreat. My whole body was numb, like it was being pricked by thousands of needles. When I attempted to move a muscle, the pain only magnified a hundredfold. My limbs felt heavy, weak, and sore all at the same time.
What happened?
I remained the way I was for a minute or so, very much dismayed by the fact that I could hardly muster even the simplest thought.
Where am I?
The anguish thankfully subsided after a couple more moments but even then, I found it difficult to move.
Biting my lower lip hard and gathering some sense, I somehow managed to sit up straight, feet hovering off the bed.
Wrong move. The world tipped over as my brain felt like it had just been dislodged by the sudden movement. Everything in sight appeared disoriented.
Resisting the urge to hurl, I clutched the sheet blanket firmly to re-collect myself. When the view somehow started to look upright, I took a quick look around.
There wasn't much to see. Every aspect of the small room was white. As I kept observing the room, I was interrupted by what seemed like a harsh tone of a woman.
"She's awake."
Tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood as goosebumps blossomed up my arms. My head was still throbbing and my mind was still vague, unclear. I heard more voices and saw the doorknob slowly start to turn.
Fear overwhelmed me and I couldn't quite comprehend why I felt so.
A group of strangers entered the room - 2 female, 2 males and 2 flying cats. Though I'm pretty sure I was hallucinating about the cats. One, who I assumed was the person in which the voice belonged to, stayed behind, eyeing me suspiciously.
All those that walked in wore a grim look that was dawned on their faces. The female with scarlet hair held a bouquet of fresh, beautiful flowers.
Who are they?
They cautiously walked over, but one of the two cats, the blue one, flew over (apparently I'm not hallucinating) and placed itself on my lap.
"Lucy," it cried, "I'm so sorry I couldn't save you,"
I felt a sharp pain run through my body.
Lucy?
The scarlet handed me the bouquet and I looked up to see a tear trickle down her beautiful face.
"Lucy, forgive me, I was so useless."
Another sharp pain.
"How are you feeling?" The male with indigo blue hair asked.
"I-I hope I did okay with the healing, Lucy-san!" The little girl flustered.
"Of course you did okay," the other flying cat remarked, "you used up all your magic twice. You couldn't sit up straight for days."
Magic?
My eyes darted to the last male. He wore a unique hair colour of salmon and a white scarf which he was currently clutching tightly in his hands. His bangs shadowed his eyes.
"Sorry, Luce," I heard him mutter under his breath. "I... couldn't do anything. I was right there and I couldn't do anything. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." His eyes sauntered over and my breath suddenly hitched. A beautiful pair of onyx black was gazing into mine, its pleading grief making me unintentionally jolt.
I was at loss of how to react. These people appeared to be complete strangers to me. So why were they saying these things?
Gathering my courage, I apologized. "I... I'm sorry but I think you got the wrong person." My voice quivered and cracked. "I- I'm not Lucy."
I could feel the surprise etch each and every one of them as I evaded all eye contact, keeping my head down in a bow-like gesture.
"W-what are you talking about?" The shirtless male anxiously asked. Why he's shirtless, I'm not quite sure why.
My sight suddenly appeared hazy and I started to feel lightheaded.
"I-I don't know who you are," I repeated,"I'm not Lucy. I'm -" I stopped.
Who am I?
My head continued to throb uncontrollably and all I could see were white grains dotting my sight. The pain turned from worst to excruciating torture as I drowned all shouts from the strangers before me, letting myself succumb into the darkness.
Confused, hurt, alone.
When I came to, I felt better than before. Not alright, but better. I squinted at the bright, white light as a dark shadow cast over me. It took me some time to realize that it was a face.
"Lucy, are you awake?"
I got up with her help and I pressed my hand against my forehead. The headache still remained, ready to drag me back into the darkness at any moment.
"Who's Lucy?" I muttered out. Turning my head to the right, I realized that I was in a different place now - no longer in that dreadful, white room. It was a large building of some sort. A bar? No, it seemed far too empty to be a bar. Turning my head to the left, I saw the scarlet female. Turning my head ahead, I saw an enormous group of people staring intently at me. I flinched from the gazing attention.
"How are you feeling, Lucy?" I heard someone ask, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"I really don't know who you're talking about," I insisted, getting out of bed. I tried my best to focus my sight, but in vain. The dizziness got the best of me. "Whoever this 'Lucy' is, it's not me." I stumbled to stand.
"Who are you then?" Someone questioned. I looked over to see that it was an old grandpa - short, white-haired, and was wearing a jolly, orange hat.
The pain of my headache throbbed as it increased another fold. The harder I tried to think of an answer, the faster the pain multiplied.
It seemed the anguish on my face was evident as the grandpa's eyes narrowed.
"You can't remember who you are?" he guessed, though the answer was already obvious.
I closed my eyes miserably as I attempted to remember something, anything.
The pain continued to increase. I bit my lower lip and clutched my hands tightly but I could already feel the overwhelming tears begin to fill my eyes.
I shook my head, fighting back a whimper. I could hear the gasps from the large group.
"Dear," the grandpa came to a conclusion, "you lost your memories."
That was all I could take. Tears started to stream, burning its way down my face. I simply stood there, silently crying. I knew that I had lost my memories. It was pretty obvious when I couldn't recollect anything of my past. But having someone confirming it for me was different. Like it wasn't really a dream. Like I wouldn't miraculously wake up and remember everything again.
I tried to stay as quiet as I possibly could but it was much too difficult to keep in. Moments later, I stopped caring that there were strangers by me.
I cried everything out.
It hurt. It hurt so much. My mind and body seemed to be turning itself inside out, pushing away from each other.
The excruciating pain in my head wouldn't subside no matter how many times I shook my head.
I clawed my arms with my nails deeply to draw myself away from the pain. It helped just a bit. But the relief didn't last long as the salmon-haired boy had to eventually come and stop me, holding my arms in place. I tried to shake him away, I tried to kick him away, but he kept me still. I saw him biting his lips. Was he hurting as well? Did he... maybe care for me that much? I was unable to see his beautiful onyx orbs, which before, was like an open book.
Everything was a blur. I saw the little girl that healed me sobbing uncontrollably at my side. I also saw the scarlet silently crying Some others were crying- a white-haired female wearing a rose dress and some adults. The rest were fighting back their tears, I know. I could tell they cared about me deeply, I really did. But why did it matter? I'm not the one they care about.
I continued to cry and cry. I cried until I couldn't even reccognize that it was me wailing.
Who am I? Just who the hell am I?
The next day wasn't any better. You could say that it was even worse.
The group that came to greet me at the hospital is apparently my team. Natsu was the one with the beautiful onyx orbs. He refuses to meet me in the eye so I can't help but wonder that maybe he and the past Lucy shared something a bit more than just partnership.
Happy was his cat, the blue one.
The one with the wonderful hair shade of scarlet is Erza. She seems to love her strawberry cake because Gray, the pervert, commented that she never shares her cake - like never - and that it was definitely the first time she gave someone a piece, that someone being myself.
Wendy was the one that healed me. She also has a flying cat, Charle.
I learned a lot of things about everyone from the past Lucy. It seems that she writes about her adventures in the form of a novel. I sure must have enjoyed writing. The novel started from the very beginning. How my Father distastefully cared solely on his work. How I ran away from home and met Natsu - which then lead me to Fairy Tail.
I read all about the adventures and everyday life from the novel of the past Lucy. And I have to admit, she was a really good writer. Everything was rich in detail and flawless. It made me interested in writing as well, actually. Though... I am Lucy.
Nothing really was said about me and Natsu's relationship. It actually seemed like I criticized him more than anyone else. He seems a bit different now than in the book, though. He's supposed to be jolly, funny, and laugh often. The one I see now barely smiles.
I continued writing my letters to my Mother, who I seemed to have loved very much. I wrote to her about my amnesia and how I might never get it back, according to Porlyusica, the guild's doctor.
As of Fairy Tail... well, simply said, the guild was mute. Everyone seemed to have lost their mood because of me. It looked as if the team continued to blame themselves and nobody brought up anything, really. There wasn't much conversations going around. Master came and talked to me often, asking if I remembered anything. The answer remained the same countless times.
It seemed I lost all magic power with the accident I encountered. I was a bit disheartened, considering the fact that the other Fairy Tail members looked pretty cool as a mage - using their magic on each other - and I couldn't help but wonder how it would feel like. Though I didn't fret much on that detail. It was better this way. The 'spirits' in the keys would be pretty shocked to see that their owner pretty much died.
I offered to sell the keys so I could have some money and pay my rent but Master forbid me to. He told me to keep them, just in case. My team members took care of the rent for the month. And after the month ended, Erza kindly said that she would be glad to have a roommate.
It was just the 'let's-get-ourselves-together-mood' for the next couple of days.
I wasn't to go out until someone was there with me (usually Erza) and I wasn't able to come to the guild until someone (once again, usually Erza) would walk me home.
The food was all provided and there was always someone beside me.
Exactly one week after I re-opened my eyes, I was doing pretty well. Though I still found it hard getting by each day, the massive headaches seemed to have lessened. Everyone else pretty much went back to normal. I now understand what the past Lucy meant by 'guild brawls' in her novel.
Nobody talked to me of my past. The second day I awoke, they all tried to tell me about the past so I could 're-gain them' but I usually ended up fainting from a massive headache.
Master forbid anyone to talk about it after that.
So that night, one week after, I was pretty happy eating my dinner with Mirajane and Erza until Master called out to me, asking me to come to his room after I finish. I didn't have any reason to refuse. So, I finished my food, had my pills, and walked up the stairs to meet him in the room.
"Lucy, my dear child," he started when I entered. The tone of his voice suddenly made me feel uneasy. "How's everything so far at Fairy Tail?"
I wanted to say painful, but instead I lied; it would've been rude. "It's good."
I saw his eyes narrow and realized that it was better to just tell the truth. He could read me like writing on a paper.
I averted my eyes from him. "...I'm still slightly uncomfortable."
He nodded, as if he was expecting to hear that.
Then afterwards, nothing. Silence pregnated the room. After what seemed like hours, he finally spoke once again.
"Your memories are still not back?"
I grew more uneasy after each passing second.
"...No sir."
More silence.
And some more silence.
Whilst during that silence, I realized what was coming. I didn't know how but I simply did. I began to feel lighte-headed and I could feel blood drain from my face. I tried my best to brace myself for what was to be said.
"I'm sorry Lucy," he sternly apologized. "I'm sorry to say that Fairy Tail can no longer have you in."
He watched me carefully, looking for some sign of surprise or sadness, but I gave him nothing.
"You are a family member, yes," he continued observing me. "Always have and always will. But I believe it's time for you to move on. We all believe it's that time."
I nodded, forcing my tears back. No. I didn't want to cry. I cried so much the past week I didn't even know if I had some left in me.
"Fairy Tail will always continue comparing you to your past you do not know of," he continued. "You know it too, I'm sure. And you will always compare yourself with your past, as well. We're only causing you more pain and suffering if we keep allowing you to stay."
My eyes locked to the wooden floor below but I could feel his serious gaze fixed on me.
"It's time for you to have a fresh start, Lucy. It's time for you to start anew."
He gave me time to let the conversation settle and I cried a few tears, not even bothering to brush them away, but a few was all. I tightly clutched my hands and raised my head, locking eyes with him. I hopefully was showing him a strong face.
I chose my words carefully as I spoke. "I'm thankful for everything you've done."
And I bowed and exited the room before he could say anything more.
I ignored all attention towards me as I hurried down the guild stairs. Mavis bless, Master forbid them running after me.
When I got outside, I was glad it was raining. Not only did the cool drops relieve my skin, but it may have also silently washed my tears away.
After running for a good 5 minutes I finally stopped to take a breath. I rested one hand on my knee and the other brushed away the rain on my face. I couldn't hear anything but the pounding of my pulse as I took a look around.
I was in a huge crowd of people - right in the middle of a market.
Do people normally go even when it's pouring rain like this?
Blood drained from my face as I realized I had no idea where I was. Which market was this? Was it on the East or the West? I lost all sense of direction at that exact moment and suddenly began to feel nauseous.
A big crowd always got me lightheaded. A big crowd of strangers always got me to faint.
I stumbled a bit as I tried to regain my balance. Having the huge crowd push and hit me only made it worse. I don't enjoy having people touch me - even if it was unintentional.
I blindly walked around, looking for a calmer place if possible, and I finally snuck away from the large crowd by entering a narrow alleyway to the side.
The moment I walked in deeper and the noisy sounds of the people were dispersing, my eyesight suddenly grew dim as I realized I had reached my limit for the day.
If I was awake for just a while longer, I would've noticed and ran away from the two figures walking up to me. But instead, they calmly stood there as I fell.
I could've sworn I saw a smirk plastered on one of them.
A/N: Thanks for reading!
Question: Which couple do you like the best? Natsu x Lucy, Sting x Lucy, or Rogue x Lucy? Feel free to explain why!
