Lucy was beginning to get bored. She and Cana had been walking around the cavern for what felt like hours, and they rarely spoke. When Lucy tried chatting, Cana hushed her in fear of an ambush. When Cana began to blabber, which made Lucy see Cana as a hypocrite, it was because she longed for booze. To Lucy, it was disgustingly quiet.

Wait. When did I ever get this mentality? Lucy thought to herself. The thoughts ran around in her head. When she was little, she didn't exactly LOVE peace and quiet, but she was fine with it. After her mother died and she got older, Lucy began to get used to the silence. In fact, she wanted there to be silence. When she stepped out to Hargeon, however, everything changed. Flipped. Switched. Snapped. Why?

Natsu. Lucy's salmon-haired companion and his blue cat were always the most talkative of the bunch. When they took missions in their walking distance, Natsu would always share ridiculous stories of past missions. Happy would crack jokes too, but Natsu was the most energetic out of them all. Something about Lucy told her she liked that part of him. What?! I can't seriously be thinking this right now! Lucy always brushed off Natsu as "not her type", mostly because of he was very rambunctious and difficult to deal with sometimes. They bickered too, but Lucy knew that Natsu started it for the stupidest reasons. However, right now in this stupid cave on this huge island, Lucy wanted Natsu by her side. What is wrong with me today?! Lucy screamed in her head. Lucy couldn't deny this longing, even though she wanted to kill it with her bare hands.

She wanted Natsu, she needed Natsu. Right here. Right now. In this stupid cave. Cana was her friend and all, but Natsu just felt like something else. Lucy wanted him to be something else. Unknowingly, Lucy began to walk faster.

"That's the spirit! I wonder who we're going to battle!" Cana shouted ecstatically, throwing a fist into the air. Lucy grinned.

"Yeah!" she shouted and raised her fist as well. Lucy knew full well this was a lie. She just wanted to see Natsu soon. So Lucy was going to do whatever it took to be by Natsu's side again, even if it was just for a little bit.

"Hey! Found ya!" somebody shouted from across the cave. Lucy and Cana stood ready for battle. Soon, they could perfectly tell who the two people were. Lucy smirked.

Freed and Bickslow? No sweat.

Nothing was going to beat Lucy's longing. Cana looked at Lucy, and then at their opponent. After the battle was done and over, like Lucy predicted, the two ran off. Lucy was noticeably ahead of Cana, running as fast as her legs would allow.

Natsu!

Natsu!

Na… tsu..? The fire dragon slayer was nowhere to be found. Lucy's hopes sunk to the ground. Natsu wasn't there yet. Had he lost? Impossible! However, Erza, Gildarts, and Mira were lurking about. Natsu surely could have been crushed by them. Lucy shook the thought out of her head. Not after I came this far… He has to be he-

"Wow, that battle was CRAZY! Right, Happy?" a voice shouted, carried by the wind. Anybody on the island could've heard. Maybe even Mavis. It was none other than Natsu. Lucy resisted the urge to jump up to her feet and scream his name. Just seeing him, hearing him, that was enough for Lucy. Her longing had finally laid to rest, and she felt warm inside.

For about two seconds.

"Alright, now that you're all here, I'll announce the second stage of the exam. You are to find Mavis's grave. Go on now!" Makarov announced. Natsu and Happy immediately scurried off, bringing that annoying longing feeling back. Lucy hated it.

"Cana, let's go!" Lucy called, already running.

"Alright, alright!" Cana replied. Lucy's longing was back, but she planned to find the grave in minutes. Had Cana not put her into a deep sleep. In this deep sleep, Lucy had a dream. In her dream, she saw Natsu smiling. That nice grin he always gives. In her dream, Natsu took Lucy's hand like he did in Hargeon. Yes, with police chasing them. In her dream, they sat together by a fire, Lucy's head was against Natsu's as they shared hilarious stories.

Lucy wanted that. Lucy longed to be by Natsu's side again.